Phantasms
by A Love Destructive
Summary: It's been a millennium since the youkai last fought a war in their realm, Tokoyo. When foreigners from the mainland threaten Tokoyo, humans and youkai both are drawn together with a common purpose: to survive. Rated M for later violence and darker themes.
1. Prologue: The Dreaming

**Disclaimer**: I claim no rights to the property of "Inuyasha". If by any way, I offend or something, I apologize in advance.

**Author's Notification: **This is a story set in a completely alternate universe from the Inuyasha one. It isn't a twist on the original universe. My own universe where there are many pocket-realms and such where the youkai and monsters of like origin and classification.

**On another note**: I am using the Japanese words in this because in the English language there _are_ no words for youkai. _Not_ because I am lazy. So, there is a reason, and if anyone wants to complain or flame (Bring it, people! Think'st thou canst char mine hide? Bah! 'Tis but a fallacy!).

Youkai can be gods or ghosts, they can have material form and can be insubstantial at the same time... They aren't gods or ghosts in the sense that we have. Unless you practice Wicca, Paganism, Tao, are a Native American keeping the old knowledge alive or a buddhist. Or a very spiritual person. In Shinto the legends are just fraught with Romanticism. Romanticism: Nature = alive & powerful = individual and aware = supernatural = everyday things becoming EXTRAORDINARY! = Horror.

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Summary:

A normal girl, with a powerful secret unknown and larger than she could ever imagine, becomes embroiled in a fight for something she has no desire to defend. And she is their only chance. Balance must be maintained, balance between all races of demons and all races of humans, from the Christian Satan and his devils to Japanese youkai and the spirits of the dead. But balance cannot always be so easy to obtain. Sometimes, one must sacrifice what was never known. Sometimes this sacrifice is bigger than anything one could have imagined.

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"Your glances seemed to be drawing my soul through mine eyes, as the sun draws the mist from the skies." -Josephine Slocum Hunt, "You Kissed Me"

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**Prologue: **_The Dreaming_

**She knew she was dreaming**, she knew, but she could not resist giving herself into believing for one second that this terrifying and fantastic vision was real. That it was all real. For she had been having this dream for many months and knew from experience that it was better if she merely went along with it. Even though she never really got to the end....

She was tired, the ache of fatigue soaked down to the marrow of her bones. All of her companions were exhausted. This would be the last battle, their final stand. This would decide their fate. The wind smelled of death, iron, miasma and smoke. The odor fumed the air noxiously, so much so that she nearly choked on it. She was dressed in a black indigo-threaded hakama and a silvery-white hitoe. Miko robes, but not the usual colors of white and red. Strange, but then, that is the way of dreams, to be strange and unnatural, so she accepted it. Her bow and quiver of arrows were clutched tightly in her left hand, while the other was held by a youkai. He was tall and strong and silver – and red like blood. He had a fierceness about him, but the expression deep in his eyes said that he was wounded. She knew how he had been wounded and what the wound was. It was not a physical hurt, but a much deeper scar that ran through him. A scar of old betrayals and bitterness.

His hand tightened around hers as he roared a cry and raised his sword (or was it a fang?) towards the bloody sky. The ground shook with his people's answering call. The multitudes screamed for blood and the male youkai beside her could provide them with that. A number of other youkai (but, didn't she exorcise youkai?) surrounded her, companions and compatriots. They had supported and protected her from the beginning. The youkai holding her hand studied her with the tenderest of looks, the expression so adoring on the foreign face that she felt her heart ache. For him. He thought he was going to die here, she had realized in this dream. He thought he would not exist after this battle. She went to him and laid her head on his shoulder, then gazed into his eyes. And he kissed her.

It was nothing like she had ever felt.

Not in life, not in the waking world.

He met her with passion yet gently, tentatively, as though he were afraid of breaking her in two. He knew that he could. They both knew it. And the crowds cheered as they saw this. A black-haired youkai smiled at her, and in the dream she smiled at him, and the she who was dreaming this remembered that smile from somewhere but she couldn't recall....

A small girl-shaped being that shone with a gentle light on the other side of Kagome giggled from her perch on a two-headed dragon. An alabaster youkai, taller even than hers(hers? She possessed this youkai in some way?), put a hand on the little female's shoulder and she smiled up at him, the sweetest smile. She knew these two, and it warmed something in her to see that the cold youkai had responded in such a way to the little one's smile. She knew he was prone to violence and killing anything he deemed inferior.

The she that was dreaming wondered why the self in the dream did not find it unnatural that a being glowing with divinity should love a youkai. She also wondered why, in the dream, that self loved a youkai. _But this is a dream_, she reasoned, _of course I am in love and will forever love him. My Inuyasha...._

A hand was pulling her, someone was shaking both of her shoulders, and she shook her head. _No, I don't want to leave Inuyasha...how will we win, how will they survive without me...?_

"Kagome, wake up. Come on sis, it's gonna be time for you to take me to school soon. We gotta go in an _hour_!" Souta shouted in Kagome's ear. She opened one eye. Her precious little brother was leaning over her, smiling, worried. "Sorry.... You just wouldn't wake up..."

"Well, I was _dreaming_." She cracked another eye open, groaning. "What time is it?"

Souta ignored her question and tilted his head, brows knitted in a cute frown. "Is it the same one you keep having over and over?" He watched his sister nod tiredly as she pushed him off the mattress. "Shouldn't you tell Gramps about this? He could make some protective charms for you..."

Kagome shook her head, now perusing her dresser for a pair of socks and a brassiere. "No way, Souta." She smirked, "Waving Gramps' protective charms around would be about as useful as stabbing a bakeneko with a lollipop and threatening it with the power of artificial grape flavoring."

Souta cackled at the thought, "Yeah." He sighed and grinned, "I guess you're right. In a couple of years, you'll finish your training and take over the shrine, won't you, Sis?" He sat back down on his sister's bed as she flit about. She was always late, always sleeping in. But, luckily for her, he was always an early riser and helped her get ready.

"Yeah. I will." Kagome walked into her bathroom, slipping on the damp floor from Souta's earlier shower, "Oof. Hey, Souta, hand me one of my blouses, would you?" She stuck her hand out the crack of the doorway.

"Here you go." He handed her a white blouse of the uniform of the school she went to and then the blue plaid, pleated skirt. "But, Kagome?"

"Oh, thanks," Kagome stumbled out of the door and back into the room, tying her hair up into a high ponytail. She hopped around, trying to get her legs into her knee-high stockings, "Yeah?" She bent and gathered her books, putting them in her messenger bag. Anything other than a briefcase was strictly against school regulations, but she had lost the one issued by the school in a particularly messy exorcism. It was now a pile of ash, lost on the winds. "What is it, Souta?"

Her little brother looked at her with such a serious expression on his face that she almost giggled at him. But, she would never be that mean. He was being serious so she could at least be the same for him. "You should be careful. I've had some dreams, too. For a long time. They keep repeating and they're all the same thing."

Kagome glanced at him sharply as she straightened her uniform. "What dreams? Tell me."

"Sis, you're standing on a cliff...looking down at a place where there's a lot of grass and a lot of...youkai died. The air smells bad, Sis, like it's gonna swallow me up and it's like I'm choking on it.... You're surrounded by friends. All your friends are youkai and I've never seen any of them." Kagome's amusement fell away as her heart grew leaden and cold. _No. That can't be.... That's _my_ dream... _"And at the ends of those dreams...you die...."


	2. Chapter 1: The Pretending

Youki – 1. The spiritual energy or life force of a youkai

Kotodama - Translates literally as "spirit words" or "language of soul". Words of power. There are three related studies: Kotomuke "directed words; caused submission through power of words", Kotoage "words raised up, invocation of word magic", and Jumon ""incantation" or "mantra"". Believed that these words of power could in fact manipulate and control objects.

"Everything you can imagine is real." - Pablo Picasso

**Chapter One****:** _Pretending_

**Higurashi Kagome closed her eyes** and breathed deeply, determined not to mess up this night, the first night she had been out clubbing with her best friends Yuka and Ayumi in about a year. This was a long-needed break from her studies and duties that she had to perform at her home. She took another breath, steadied herself. _Stay calm, act normal, and keep pretending._ These were the three cardinal rules she lived her life by, what her grandfather had taught her all her life: "stay calm, act normal, keep pretending". Be calm as though she could not perceive preternatural beings that others could not. Act normally, as though she were not a miko, did not inherit the power to vanquish an old evil, did not invoke gods or banish spirits. Pretend as though, earlier, her grandfather had not urged her to practice her kotodama, urged her to be prepared for any type of possible situation. _Kotodama that my friends have never known about._

She leaned against the bar, her arm resting on it's cool surface. The strobe lights overhead shot green and blue beams across the club. The mass of frenzied bodies – tender and young – dancing on the floor had the illusory appearance of flickering in and out of existence as the lights struck them ever so briefly. A mononoke hovered over a grinding couple, it's jealousy hanging in the air. Another coaxed a girl into a corner, gleaning from her sexual favors while it attended to her body. _Not good_.

Kagome bit her lip and sent out a psychic pulse, scattering the minor ayakashi with her strong spiritual energy. They would be unable to return to the purified area until the remnants of her energy faded completely. That would be weeks from now. _There are so many of them out tonight. Is it the vernal equinox tonight? Already? No, mother told me that that was two weeks away... _She shivered; she should have been safe by now. Her grandfather had always said that the times were reverting back to the old days. He kept telling her stories of the ancient era of Japan, when the youkai were not only everywhere, but visible to all as well. According to her Gramps, way back during his grandmother's grandfather's time, the youkai and the bakemono did not just appear to humans in the dark, or to humans with psychic strength, but they ran rampant even in the daytime. Nothing, almost _nothing_ had been able to stop them. The emperor had panicked and the small villages undefended prayed to their gods... There had been much devastation then, too many deaths and plagues. That was when all different types of shamans emerged: onmyouji, miko, itako, yamabushi...

There should not have been so many youkai out this season however, these recent years, they have been appearing before mortals more often. It was not just on the equinoxes, moons, eclipses and solstices when they appeared to humans nowadays. And, it had become a real pain in the arse to just be able to handle the recent increase in cases of possession. They [the youkai] were growing more dangerous and the obake more ornery, making the entire process just...

Youkai constantly began popping in and out of her life and causing nothing but mischief for her, seven years ago, when she started her training. Pinching, grabbing, licking, dark chuckles, mutterings, tapping noises at the doors and windows... It was enough to make her go crazy...

Of course, her Grandfather was absolutely thrilled that he had been right about everything and had immediately declared her the heir to the shrine. However, he was a little senile anyway and the amount of cases of possession...well, it was taking a toll on the family. Her mother was suffering from visions and illusions during summers, though she insisted that the delusions were caused by a fever or fatigue or sunstroke. Souta, her little brother, was suffering from frequent nightmares...now, he could not sleep alone at night. When she awoke in the morning, she often found that he had crawled into her bed, trying to gather comfort through the presence of another.

_ And now..._

A tingle spiraled down Kagome's spine. _Trouble._

A group of five humanoid youkai, all of them old or powerful, strode into the nightclub confidently. Humans stepped aside instinctively, not even aware that they were making way for them...such was the power of daiyoukai. They soon neared Kagome and her friend, Ayumi, by chance, invisible and nonexistent to everyone else in the club.

One of them, an inugami (dog-god), slid over to Kagome and bent slowly, sniffing loudly around her. His warm breath was making her hair stir. Unearthly amber eyes glowed in the darkness of the club. He smelled of dew in the morning air, of breathing in mountain winds, of running joyously through forests, of laying on grass in the cool shade. A long mane of hair flowed over his shoulders, a cool pewter, like solid mercury. There was a pull, an attraction between him and her. For a mere second, she wondered how it would be to run her fingers through that hair, to be wrapped in that summer warmth. To have those amber eyes upon her all of her days on earth.

Kagome tensed inwardly. He should not have been able to make her feel that way.

"Look at this mortal, Hiten. She's beautiful. She smells of the cherry blossoms floating in the winds during spring," he caressed the poor girl with his long-fingered claws. She worked hard to pretend as if those claws weren't real to her, weren't scaring her, weren't touching her. _Don't flinch._ And yet, she couldn't ignore the youkai. Especially not this one; it was the youkai that held her hand in her dream.

The one who must be "Hiten" answered, "She resembles too closely that vile, dusty, animated corpse that forever follows you, promising death and deliverance to hell." Kagome found that she could sense what type the youkai was: a male raijuu (thunder-beast) daiyoukai. With maybe a hint of draconic lineage.

Usually, a miko could not tell the specific race of supernatural creatures, even with the proper training of the senses and apprenticeship or years of devotion to honing the art. However, Kagome's powers were different from the other miko of today. Her ability in regards to the others' ability was as a lake is to a puddle; none of the other women had the talent or the sheer amount of power. This was a big reason for her being chosen as the heiress in her family, the one to inherit the shrine duties.

"Hiten, observe how she differs from that pitiable shell of a broken woman. Look at how vibrant her energies are. Pure and innocent." This came from another one, a beautiful female. She wore a beautiful black and blue kimono and carried a fan, numerous white feathers hanging from her earrings. Her wavy ebony hair was styled in a bun. "Inuyasha, it would be advisable to reveal your true self to the girl. Attempt to converse with her. Contract with her."

"Contract? Why? Kagura, I have no desire to be bound into the service of a human wench. Even if the human is a powerful miko." The inugami had made himself known as male and dog from the moment he appeared. "Devouring her would alone satisfy me."He was flaunting his power carelessly; it brushed up against Kagome and simply pressed upon her with unimaginable force.

Kagura sighed tiredly, as though the inugami was just an unruly, overly curious teen aged human boy she was charged with baby-sitting. "The girl could be a descendant of a surviving clan that has retained some of the ancient ways. Or, at the most, an heiress to an old bloodline." Kagura must have lived a long time as she seemed to have mastered concealing her power, unlike the arrogant inugami who was spilling his youki everywhere. "This is what we need, Honorable Hound. She could give us an in with the other shamans. With the monks. We need that. We need humans. Remember, Honored One, there is a war coming. A miko of our own would be of great use to combat the far north mainland's invaders." _War? Invaders? Foreign youkai? From Korea or..._

The inugami tilted his head, actually considering Kagura's proposition, his canine ears twitching. "Perhaps..."

"Wait... I understand how you perceive this chance happening as opportune, however..." the raijuu, Hiten, muttered, the air around him crackling and laden with friction. "Kagura, the shamans that they possess cannot be considered such anymore. They has become dark and twisted. A hag and countless imitators. Not true shamans." The youkai moved closer; he was probing her aura with his youki. It was like the supernatural version of a power-oriented CAT scan. "Would this girl be capable of equaling their combined power? That is my main concern."

Youki crawled painfully through her veins, like fire eating away at her limbs, lava replacing her blood. Kagome could barely stand it; the sensation felt alarming, disgusting— similar to vivisection. She felt that he was slowly peeling off her skin and then poking through her raw innards while she still had breath in her body. It was all she could do not to run away.

"She would not be able to hear Inuyasha, fools," said another youkai, the most human looking youkai there. "No human can. For the love of the gods. She is merely a human. A little miko."

"No, curse it, there is more than that," the inugami was so close that Kagome could feel his heat radiating in force from his body. "She smells of the old ki."

"So, Ayumi, where's this guy that you told me would be here? I'm anxious to meet him." Kagome gave her friend a shaken smile, pulling her brown leather jacket tighter about her. "I hope he's as hot as you say he is. It might be enough to excuse all of his bad qualities."

Ayumi smiled reassuringly. "He's perfect for you Kagome, don't worry," she said in that soft, whispery voice of hers. Her gentle smiled turned wicked. "Three T's, girl. Tall, tanned and toned. He seems to have a streak of delinquency in him, but he's got a heart of gold and he's really cool. It'll be okay. You'll see."

Ayumi tended to think the best of everyone. It was in her nature to do so. And that was one of the main reasons Kagome was friends with her. Without Ayumi's sunniness Kagome probably would have fallen into a dark pit long ago.

"Well, how'd you meet him?" _Don't say job, don't say job, don't say job..._

Ayumi beamed, "I met him at my job." _Damn it_. "While I was working late shift." The fact that Ayumi's career was at a tattoo and piercing shop did not help Kagome's wariness of meeting the guy. For all she knew, the guy could be more of a "delinquent" than Ayumi thought. Ayumi's customers tended to run to adolescent gangsters, dropouts, and certain yakuza groups. "He was getting tribal tattoos of jagged claw marks on each of his shoulders." Oh, he definitely sounded yakuza. Kagome had no idea how her friend was still alive what with all the shady shit going down in that place.

She knew that is was wrong of her to be like this, in a way. It was horrible of her to judge others by appearances. However, if anyone else had the ability to see into another's soul and discern their _true_ nature with one glance, that person would judge on sight too.

"What?" an ookami rumbled with fury. "The old clans' powers? I should have expected such a ridiculous notion from an incompetent mutt." His voice had the howl of the wind upon it, with the accent of the inhabitants of the northern-most island, Hokkaido. His long brown locks rippled slightly in his ponytail, moved by an unknown force. "They were exterminated long ago, by your damned clan's ancestors. I will not hear any more of this nonsense."

Kagura smiled patronizingly, "Have you given yourself over to the petty sentiments of jealousy, like a mere whelp? Do you envy the Shiranora battle prowess?"

She merely chuckled lightly when the ookami roared, "I will not hesitate to decapitate you and feed your corpse to my tribe's pups for their evening meal, Kagura. Think well on that." His azure eyes held hints of winters' chill in them, made all the more pronounced when he glared death at the female.

Kagura expressed her amusement again, her voice as sweet and free as a bird's song. "You are yet undisciplined, Kouga. You will soon face Master Inuyasha's legendary ire if you do not learn tolerance." The other youkai were beginning to chuckle as well.

"Silence, Kouga! And, Kagura, instigating conflicts will not bring us to our goal. It is a necessity for us to work together, my brother says." The inugami, Inuyasha, growled menacingly, actually pulling off the growl well. Way too well. He peered at Kagome closely, "She seems special to me in some way. Different from other miko. My brother may have actually had his wits about him when he commanded me to sniff her out..." He stood practically nose to nose with her. "Kagura. Hiten. Do not concern yourselves with this, as it is a small matter to you."

"Oh, Ayumi. You know that I hate those men the most. They're idiots." Kagome vehemently wished that the youkai would go away. She couldn't keep feigning ignorance and pretending to be blind to them for much longer. They were truly bothering her. "You know I can't deal with their bull," she sighed. Her shoulders were tight, rigid with loathing for the youkai that crowded her. "Ayumi. You don't even really know the guy. What if he's real trouble?" Her voice trembled slightly as she said this; her last boyfriend had been seriously dangerous.

That relationship had been the worst one and the second attempt she had made at dating. The boy had turned out to be possessed by a bakeneko. It had caused him to mistreat her, becoming so terrible that, by the third month, she finally recognized the bakeneko's presence. Kagome had to perform her first exorcism at the tender age of fourteen in order to drive the monster out.

Suffice to say he wanted nothing to do with her ever again. He didn't even want the promise ring he gave her returned to him. He considered her unnatural, tainted. She supposed she was by now, after delving into the spiritual practices learned by her family so often. She had changed so much.

"Everything will be taken care of." Inuyasha growled deep in his throat, "I will meet this girl again soon."

Ayumi tucked a wavy strand of hair behind her ear saying, "Oh, it'll be alright." As per usual she was calm, composed and completely unruffled.

Sometimes, Kagome really hated being born into a long line of miko, a type of Shinto shaman, the supposed "priestesses". She hated that she was born of the family shrine, and that it had caused her step-father's misery and end.

Sometimes she hated her brown eyes, the very eyes that the females of the Higurashi clan possessed, the eyes that gave her the sight. She hated that her blood ran strong with it and that it had made her the heir to her clan. She hated that she was the only one ever who knew and saw what was going on around her when she was with normal humans.

Sometimes, Kagome hated a lot of things.

And no one ever understood.

"Come on, girl, lighten up." Yuka had returned from dance floor, sweating and looking extremely pleased with herself. She was a great dancer and loved to flaunt it. "We're here to have fun. _Fun_, Kagome. Is that word in your vocabulary?" And Yuka certainly was having fun, decked out in a short little halter dress, silky and red. She looked just about ready for anything. Anything involving men.

"Ayumi and I were just discussing guys," Kagome feigned a saucy grin. She checked her surroundings, _praying_ that her friends thought she was checking out the major eye-candy gathered there. The daiyoukai seemed to have disappeared from the air, which was their way. _How did I not notice that? How did they mask their huge auras without me feeling their absence?_ "And how troublesome they are." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, an inauspicious gesture. She hoped. _I've got a really bad feeling..._ "I personally think it's better to just stay away from 'em altogether. They can really wear a girl out."

"Do you think we're that bad? All of us?" A familiar voice said behind Kagome. She stilled. Her lungs felt brittle. _No way. This isn't possible._ "I actually didn't know I was so terrible. Please, allow me to make up for the mistakes of the other members of my gender," he smiled at her predatorily. _Oh, hell._ She smelled the forest and the shade.

Ayumi glanced up, startled at the tall young man's presence. "Oh my," she said softly, smiling, "I didn't even hear you coming. Taira, don't scare me like that!" Then, she turned to Kagome to introduce the man. "Kagome, this is Taira Shiranosuke. Taira, this is Higurashi Kagome, the one who I've been telling you about."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Higurashi," he muttered as he bent forward in a playful mockery of a bow. "I've heard interesting things about you. As it is, please, take care of me." His attitude was horrible. Kagome could tell just by looking at him that he was always tense and never relaxed, guarded and unattainable. "I am in your hands."

Yuka laughed, "Well, he certainly is a tasty-looking morsel, isn't he?" Ayumi admonished Yuka in a motherly way, causing the man to smirk.

Kagome swatted jokingly at her friends and glanced at the ground, flushed, not with embarrassment but something akin to fear.

It wasn't that Taira wasn't good-looking. He was. In fact, he was downright drop-dead gorgeously handsome. Unreasonably so. His eyes were captivating and unreadable. His skin seemed to have a light brown tint to it, as if he spent all his days basking in the sun, and his tight black wife-beater did a great job showing off his slim swimmer's build and broad shoulders. He could have worked as a male model, could have been a rock star. And really, "attractive", "drool-worthy" or "good-looking" did not cover it.

And yet, all the beauty and epic sex appeal in the world could not compensate for what he was.

Because Kagome could see. Taira's spiky "bleached" hair was actually thick, argent, like the purest of metals– and about a meter in length. His eyes' true color was a liquid amber that glinted under the lights like a dog's. His skin hadn't browned; it was lit from within, luminous.

The attitude he exuded was a familiar one; Taira carried himself as if all those around him were beneath him, a lowly species whose existence would blow out like a weak match in a gale. He was familiar...yes. Like a certain youkai. Like the inugami. _Inuyasha_. The inugami, Inuyasha. In human skin. In a club. Surrounded by humans. _Inuyasha_.

_Talking_ to them.

Talking to _her_. _Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god..._

"Everything alright, Kagome? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Yuka appeared worried. _Close enough, Yuka. Very close..._

Ayumi was staring at her. She ventured, "You should go home and rest. Maybe you haven't recovered from your illness yet..."

_ What? Oh, those excuses I make up to cover for the apprenticeship to Gramps that I've been taking on... How could they remember all of those...? Talk about coming back to bite me in the ass..._"You're probably right, Ayumi," Kagome smiled and waved their concern away as Inuyasha looked on, bemused. "I think I had better go." She turned to Inuyasha, who suddenly wore an affectation of human concern. _Shit. I can't believe it._ "I'm sorry to trouble you...um...Taira, was it? I mean, you came out all this way and then I have to go..."

"Oh, no, Higurashi, not at all. Just let me take you home first. It's the least I could do –"

"No!" They all stared at Kagome. She forced herself to be calm. "No, it's okay, I can manage."

Yuka tilted her head to the side and scolded playfully, "Now Kagome, he's not going to bite." _You don't know that, Yuka._

"At least not very hard," Inuyasha grinned. His features had a feral look to them, as though he were an wild animal, his instincts and primal drives just barely contained. "I'll just walk you out and wait with you until I can get you a cab, how is that?" And that animalistic quality in his features was more pronounced to Kagome than any other human in the world.

She hid her the emotions bombarding her from within. "Wow. Thank you so much. I didn't think I had enough money for a taxi. You must be very well off to afford one... That's a very gracious offer." _He can't hurt me in front of everyone. He can't trick me into making any deals. I'll be fine. I'm okay_.

"It's fine, really. Come on."

Kagome nodded and he took her by the elbow to steer her through the throng of dancing youth. She winced, jostled and pushed by their chaotic movements. "Ouch!" One young man who was feverishly moving against a pretty girl accidentally bumped into Kagome, jabbing her with his elbow. She stumbled and tripped.

"Watch yourself, Higurashi." Inuyasha caught her and slid his arm around her waist. Her heart quickened, disturbed by an odd jolt passing between them as their skin touched. "Don't want you to get trampled. People can get hurt so easily. You never know." She attributed the sensation to the friction created by the nature of their powers.

"Thank you..."

"I heard that you were born into a shrine family," the inugami had to yell over the noise of the music. "Are you proud of your heritage?" Kagome thought she saw something glint in his eyes when he said this. _Youki? Wait; maybe, I'm imagining this. Paranoia, that's all. Just paranoid. It could be all in my head..._

"N-no," Kagome stuttered out, seriously terrified now. _What is he going to do...?_ "I sometimes find myself wishing that I was someone else." She averted her eyes when he tried to catch her gaze. _They can't bewitch you unless you meet their eyes. Remember what Gramps taught me._ "I've just never really fit in, you know? I always felt so different from everyone. Like I knew something no one else did." She was uncomfortable (to say in the least) being alone with Inuyasha, but she really did not have a choice in the matter. How could she possibly explain to her friends that Ayumi's regular customer was actually a powerful youkai, a thing of fantasy?

"Oh, yeah. I know all about that." Again, that weird predatory smile. Kagome caught sight of his long, sharp teeth, almost all of them fangs. His youki began to pervade her spirit and she quaked, gasping. He should not have affected her. He should not have made her feel that way.

"Tai...Taira...?"

The two earned a couple of glances as Inuyasha tightened his grip on her, holding her closer, "Hold on." He pulled her through the entrance. They walked down a little ways and, finally, the last person in line for the club could not be seen.

Kagome sighed heavily as they finally escaped from the percolating heat of the club and into the cool night's air. A light breeze rustled their clothes. "Taira" cocked his head to the side, as though he heard a voice floating along on the winds, calling out to him. After a moment, Kagome thought that she could hear something too: howling.

"Let's cut to the chase," he said without so much as a glance, "Kagome. You know what I am. At the very least, vaguely. But, I want you to understand exactly who you are dealing with, girl." While he said this, his human "skin" dissolved and his true self shone through. "Do you know what I am, _human_?"

Kagome found that she could not use her voice. She shook; youkai were as fickle and unpredictable as their western "fey" counterparts. And this one had a lot of power. It had to, in order to look fully human and then pull it off.

"I suppose you have already sensed that I am an inugami. Mayhap you guessed such of my essence from my aura. What other knowledge have you discerned of my nature? About the realm of youkai?"

Kagome could not answer. She gaped, her mouth opening and closing like a fish starving for water. The pressure was building in her.

The inugami laughed as Kagome suddenly shrieked. "What is wrong, wench?" He peered into her eyes, now close to her, almost nose to nose. "Nekomata caught your tongue?"

Kagome stood paralyzed.Something came to the surface of her mind: it was months after the funeral of her step-father. "No, no please..." The memory of a bakeneko possessing the corpse of her dead step-father began to come back to her. "Stop..." The corpse was reaching towards her, a twisted, leering smile on it's rotted face. She had only been nine years old... Her mother had only just married the man a year ago...a big step after her birth-father left her and Souta...she never knew the man... "Stop it..." and Kagome watched again in shame as the corpse of the corpse began to force itself on her; the worst horror imaginable and it had worn her step-father's face. The first time she had ever banished a youkai from her presence...

Something in the poor girl snapped. _"STOP."_

The inugami froze in place, stopped utterly by young girl's kotomuke. _"Never...never more shalt thou transgress against me..."_ Kagome's strong, furious glare had locked with Inuyasha's surprised gaze. She stared him down, down, down, until he was brought forcefully to his knees, bowing, nose to the ground, "_Now, return unto thine keep. It is mine will not to set my eyes upon thee to-night. Obey me dog, and return from whence thou come_. I will _not_ be messed with!"

The inugami was beside himself with rage, as he struggled with his subjugation. "You..." Two clawed hands gripped her shoulders as she found herself truly face to face with the youkai for the first time that night. "I did nothing to deserve this insolence and irreverence. We youkai used to be gods to you lesser beings; we were worshipped and given offerings in return for our services." She fought against her basic reaction: flight. Running might provoke him into attacking. Attacking would leave her dead. Inuyasha growled out, "You brought up those illusions with your own power, not mine. You had so expected me to hurt you with my malice that you remembered those images, causing you to experience that memory. You did this to yourself." His lit eyes narrowed, as he resisted the girl's command with everything he had in him. "I will come for you again, wench. For our war. Be prepared to die for the very things you despise." He snapped upright and dashed away as she had commanded, a flash of silver in the darkness.

Kagome stared after him, horrified at what she had done to him, even if he was a youkai. She had forced her will onto another living being with her power – an action she despised above all else. An action that her grandfather had taught her was dangerous and had considerable repercussions. _Oh, gods._ Ashamed and worn from expending her energy, she crumbled to the cold ground, quaking. _What have I gotten myself into?_

Time was running out. Guo Shihong stared out over the precipice in a twilight realm, mists and fog swirling and dissipating. The lands of Fusang. The lands of mystical and fantastical beings, a refuge for hunted spirits, the land of youkai. He sighed and wondered when he and his sister would finally be able to rest, when they would be able to call the land their home. He heard a rustling behind him.

* * *

Guo Mingya, Shihong's sister, came to her sibling, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "Hey, Brother." Their dark crimson locks looked like blood in the ocean as it was waving in the seaside breeze. "Is it almost time?" she nuzzled into his chest and grasped his hand. Shihong knew Mingya's mind as well as he knew his own, and he knew that they were both yearning for that legend China had had from centuries past.

Shihong grinned, "Soon, Mingya. Very soon." He tilted her chin up and kissed her lightly on the lips, "They will be ours."

They gazed at Fusang over in the eastern waters: the land of the Rising Sun.


	3. Chapter 2: Noble Demons, Humane Monsters

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing here. Only the plotline. That's it. I claim no rights to _Inuyasha_ or any of the characters or merchandise and stuff....

* * *

Obake – 1. Literally meaning "thing that changes" referring to living things or supernatural beings that temporarily transform or shift shape. 2. Term used for supernatural beings in general 3. yuurei (ghosts of deceased human beings) 4. youkai (god-like demons)

Tokoyo – 1. Shintou Otherworld. Entrance to the otherworld found anywhere in sites of the natural. Land and realm of the gods where they dwell and perform their activities. 2. Hinted to be world of the dead.

Sai-ou – 1. A princess or daughter of nobleman dedicated to serve the gods in a temple, and become a miko.

Ryoudo – A territory. Land of a certain lord.

* * *

"To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god." - Napoleon Bonaparte

* * *

**Chapter Two: **_Taking_

**Inuyasha of the Shiranora Clan **growled as he tackled yet another opponent, and dodged an onslaught of unexpected blows. Onlookers of the squadron he himself had chosen selectively were whistling and howling in appreciation. Parry here, slice there, stab in the middle...it was all second nature to him. He had been training since his Lord and elder brother had taken him in, taught him the ways of the legendary Shiranora. Battle was what he loved, it was his passion, his art.

The angry brawls and sparring matches that Inuyasha participated in with the Sentries were the best thing that ever happened to him, he sometimes thought. Usually, it was an opportunity for Inuyasha to escape from being the Hound Court outcast, shame of the nobility and official failure, an outlet for venting his frustrations. Yet, these days, the image of that frustrating wench he had encountered only recently burned in his mind relentlessly. He would never forget the rage on her pretty face, nor the rage that he had felt at her commands and how he was forced to obey them.

Especially since his condescending older brother demanded her power or her head of him.

"Concentrate, Inuyasha," Inuyasha's partner hissed. The youkai was another flunky of Inuyasha's arrogant older brother. It seemed that this servant's goal in this particular life was to piss Inuyasha off, a task which he performed exceedingly well.

Inuyasha stabbed the servant with his sword, taking satisfaction in the rending of the youkai's flesh, "I _am_ concentrating." The servant fell to the floor in a pool of his own blood, choking on it. He sheathed his sword, satisfied. He turned to the side, called a name. "Yura."

"Well done, Master Inuyasha," A female sentry nearby murmured, laying a sheet over the body on the floor. Her demeanor was meek and docile, her clothes perfect for scouting. "I shall dispose of this corpse immediately." Inuyasha knew from experience that the demure profile was merely an act. She could be quite the murderess. He had engaged in one-on-one combat practice with her before and knew firsthand of her merciless ways.

"Yes, that will be all. I will leave this company in your hands, Yura." Inuyasha strode over to the door to the outside, looking down from the Saigoku Palace that was built high up in the treetops. "Get rid of the rest quickly. Sesshoumaru becomes furious whenever I leave these things laying around."

He jumped into the forest, figuring that the other servants could clean up the messes made by the ones he had just cut down. His elder brother had instructed him to find them a miko a while ago, a female human with great power, one the original bloodlines, the ones with true power. He found that the best candidate for that was the girl, Kagome. So, Inuyasha decided that he would tail that Kagome wench, though, just to try and get rid of her. _Yes, that is what I will do... _

That was...if he could find her first. The wench had done what she wanted well. He could not smell a trace of her scent without getting confused and misdirected because of the power of her words. Earlier, because he was unable to do so, he had had Yura go out to find information on the youkai she had her patronage under. Yura had mentioned one name. A name that made his task marginally less complicated.

Inuyasha turned his gaze to the twilit sky and whistled. The winds stilled for a moment and then gusted riotously. A female youkai soon appeared overhead, sailing upon the wind on a white feather. "Well, well. Inuyasha. The winds told me of what happened to you that night. It seems that you did not do well." Kagura was prone to abrasive comments and snide remarks. That was just her way. Inuyasha, her long-time friend, was familiar with how to deal with it. But, she was still irksome.

He scowled, "Be quiet. I am going to journey to the house of territorial guardian that protects the area the girl lives in. _You_ know the way. Care to join me?"

"Certainly," Kagura's fan snapped open and she swung it to the side, "However, you know that Hiten will wish to accompany us."

Inuyasha snorted. "I do. The nosy bastard is ofttimes obnoxious as hell."

"What about nosy bastards?" The raijuu stood behind Inuyasha, smirking, his naginata slung over his shoulder. "So, we shall be visiting the human world, then?"

* * *

Because the handsome youkai had not been the guardian for long and because he was so young, he was extremely unused to his duties and position. It had advantages of course; he never aged beyond the age of twenty-five, grew more handsome, more _godly_, and acquired power. Power that he only used if his humans prayed for his help and guidance. For his territory existed in two worlds simultaneously. It took a large amount of power to maintain.

But that didn't matter.

He had grown fond of his people, his position. He had realized that he would do anything for them all, no matter what. He always tried his hardest, even fulfilling the wishes he considered foolish and menial, constantly watching over those who were under his rule. He had convinced himself that it was merely something to pass the time.

He was very different from who he had been.

Back when the youkai lord had been a human, he did terrible things to his kind and, for his crimes, becoming the spiritualization of a province was the duty he was obligated to perform.

He used go by the name of Kagewaki no Hitomi, a lord. Hitomi had been the shrewd ruler of a province on the rise, but he had gone rogue and abused his power. He had taxed his vassals and executed a multitude of peasants. He had kept hostages of the nobles' daughters to ensure the safety of his dominion like many others did in those days, yet, his hostages suffered terribly, were treated like untouchables, unlike what was required by code of warfare. The people that he was supposed to be protecting grew enraged. They had wanted him dead for his transgressions against them. Hitomi had no qualms about spilling their blood.

But he had not known that those on the inside were plotting a mutiny as well.

On a summer night, they planned an attack on him. The commoners rose up, as one, and revolted. They began with breaking down the outer walls and taking his foot-soldiers out. The torches the mob carried burned his child, Akago, and his grandfather Onigumo to death as well as all the servants inside. The castle burned to the ground and he took his daughter and young son with him in an attempt to escape. He struggled to keep them back but they overwhelmed his forces and his entire family had perished. After many hours of intense battle, the peasants beat his army and left him nearly senseless and half-dead.

The daughter of another lord, his lover, had been the one who struck him down on the field of battle. The woman had killed him along with the children they had together and later ruled his lands in his stead. That woman had been Kikyou.

Kikyou had unfortunately been a sai-ou, the princess-priestess of a shrine dedicated to Midoriko. Thus, their love was forbidden. She had promised him that she would abandon the duties of the shrine and her path to becoming a miko for him. In the end, he had been left alone and betrayed by the only woman (other than his daughter and sister) that he trusted through his growing insanity and paranoia.

And as the man had lain in his dead soldiers' remains, bleeding in a viscous fashion, he prayed for mercy from a god, any god to end his misery. Fate smiled on him that night. If he could ever recall a time where the Wheel of Fate was good to him, it would be then. Someone had heard him. And came to him. Though he was twisted and bent, though his soul had been smeared with his transgressions, though he was considered irredeemable, a god came to him. It was Midoriko herself who saved him. Midoriko the Mighty, the Gracious. As the kunitama (spiritualization of the land), she had heard the prayer, taken pity on him, and brought him out of the hands of death. It had taken the calling upon of youkai, the merging of souls, but he survived it all.

Midoriko offered him a proposition as payment for the favor; she told him that she would be passing on to the _Tokoyo_ soon and that he had to take over her duties henceforth. Only then would everything be balanced once more.

And he had agreed to her proposition. What other choice did he have? None. He had nothing. But, he asked of Midoriko only one thing. As long as his daughter, sons, sister and servants could be revived, he would do whatever she wanted him to do with joy. This selfless request gave Midoriko hope, allowed her faith in him, he supposed, because the only thing he remembered after that was waking up, surrounded by his servants and family in the shrine.

And, now, he was stronger than ever before.

The youkai smiled at his thoughts as he sipped his morning tea and ate his breakfast meal, which consisted of the offerings of the people who worshiped at his dwelling, the shrine. On this particular day, he had bound his onyx satin tresses up in a high horsetail, elegant in his black hakama and azure and violet haori, the colors of his territory. He shifted in demeanor, sensing a presence. It came towards the shrine soundlessly and along the stone path by the koi pond. A young girl dressed in a white kimono, seemingly of ten years, slowly opened the thin doors and stepped inside. She bowed low, crouching on the floor, her head touching the surface of the tatami.

"Greetings, my lord father," she whispered. The white lilies in her achromatic hair waved slightly in the mountain winds.

"What news, Kanna?" Naraku nodded his acknowledgment of the girl's prostration, "I trust that your search for the source of the enemy's movements in the far north yielded success?"

"Not so, Father. I have discovered through many a night of scrying that..." Kanna became quiet again when she met her master's eyes, as though anxious to continue. Her abyssal gaze reflected nothing, swallowing the shine of the rising sun in the sky. "My sight is blocked. It is the magic of ones that I do not recognize." She was discomfited by this. Nothing was ever not clear to her vision-sight.

"Come, sit by my side, daughter. I had hoped for a quiet day. I do not wish for there to be any trouble within my territory," Naraku sighed as his pallid child knelt, barefoot before him. He was an intimidating being, elegant and ambivalent in nature, inclined to waver between good and ill, though some might see him and only see a monster. He patted his daughter on the head and bade her continue.

Kanna murmured, "There was a disturbance near the dance club—"

Suddenly, a severe gale blew from beyond the walls of Naraku's home. He shivered inwardly as his eyes narrowed shrewdly. "An ill wind." A wind that brought misfortune and pain.

There was a resounding clamor outside the walls of his sanctum. The kunitama started at the noise and rose to investigate the commotion beyond his walls. As he strode over to the open door he saw that three youkai were standing outside of his domain. He also saw that they had apparently landed down hard on the ground due to the crater that had formed around them. At the head was an inugami with a raijuu on his right and a his sister at the inugami's left.

The dog turned to Naraku's sister and grinned, "I am grateful for the ride, Kagura."

"Oh, please. Do not feed me falsities, Hound." Kagura opened her fan with a _thwack_ and began to cool herself. "You are stacking up your favors. Do not forget this." Strands of her hair escaped from its bun in the midst of the harsh winds.

"I will not."

The raijuu seemed bored and impatient, "Make haste, Inuyasha. We are supposed to meet with the seven lords when the sun reaches it's highest point in the sky."

Naraku sensed how dangerous the raijuu was just from it's eyes, which were uncharacteristically agitated and hollow for a youkai. He knew from experience that all of its morality had been discarded long ago for the sake of survival. He strode back to room and took his place by the window, waiting, contemplating the situation.

Inuyasha stepped up to Kanna and inclined his head in deference to the kunitama's offspring, as was the required and honorable thing to do. "If the good kunitama would kindly receive me into his home."

"Of course," Kanna stepped aside to allow Inuyasha to enter the shrine. "This way, Most Honored One," she murmured as she bowed to the inugami, and led him to her father.

She slid open the screen doors and said as she knelt, "Lord Father. Shiranora no Inuyasha, the son of the Legendary Dog General and brother to Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands, the master of the Lower Western Forest and Winds, comes to you with a request." She exited briefly and returned with a tray of green tea.

After a moment, the two males were left alone.

"What may I do for you, Hound of the Shiranora?" Naraku addressed Inuyasha directly, believing formalities to be a trifle. When it came to visits such as these, he wished to always discard the honorifics and understand the meaning behind the visits immediately. He was nothing if not utterly suspicious and paranoid.

Inuyasha sank gracefully to the mat upon the floor, his katana at his side. "I come from Saigoku in Tokoyo with orders from my brother. We have need of your miko."

"...My miko...?" The child of the Great Hound was strong, Naraku knew that. He had felt the disturbance in his territory when Kagome had used her kotodama on the inugami. And it was not a nice feeling. His ward was not fond of this dog. Nor was he. "I have none of my own. The ones that care for my shrine are the humans that live in my territory, as my estate is maintained through their prayers and daily offerings. All that I do is help and watch over them..."

"That is well." The bastardized dog said, "Then, take me to the main shrine in your territory. I wish to have the heiress in my possession."

Naraku shivered. "Which shrine would the Honored Hound be referring to?" Because he was a human originally, he understood them [the humans] better than most. This also meant that he was raised with the knowledge of what it was to encounter youkai as well. And what it was for a youkai of Inuyasha's lineage ask such a thing from a territorial guardian.

"Higurashi."

_No_. "I am unable to do what you ask of me. I sincerely regret this. Please excuse my incompetence." Naraku sat on his tatami mat, trying fruitlessly to still his spiritual energies anyway, lest the inugami smell a lie.

Inuyasha snarled, "Do not feign ignorance, Naraku. You cannot refuse me. Take me to the girl bearing your patronage." The dog's flaming red and black robes, fanged armor and the unsheathed katana were imposing enough without his glowing eyes glaring as if he could set Naraku on fire.

"What business do you have with her?"

"None. This is a matter of _war_." It was now completely obvious as to why the Great Hound had left his dominion to his first son, rather than to the son of his favored wife. Inuyasha had _none_ of the diplomatic skills needed to organize an army, Naraku could see this after spending mere _minutes_ with the lord. "Youkai in the west and the south are banding together. We need the northern and eastern territories to ally themselves with us completely. The most powerful are gathering, Lord Naraku. We need her."

Naraku started in surprise, "There has not been a war between youkai in a millennium." He had not had time to make too many alliances yet, and so he had not yet received news of such a war. _War? With whom? _He contemplated this news for a few moments. _Why would a youkai need a miko...? Unless.... No...no way that that could be possible...the tradition had ended several hundred years ago... But then, are the youkai of tokoyo aware of this?_

Inuyasha growled, "And this is precisely why I ask for your help, Naraku." Naraku wondered briefly if it was difficult to speak with those large fangs in Inuyasha's mouth (the dog was practically gnashing on his words rather than speaking them) but decided that was merely because of pent up rage and most likely had nothing to do with tooth size.

"At the very most I can send a messenger to her. My daughter, Kanna," Naraku called for the little girl.

She soundlessly glided to Naraku's side and demurely lowered her remote gaze to the floors. "What is it that you wish me to do, Lord Father?"

"Go fetch Kohaku. He will do nicely. He owes me a favor and can settle his debt with this. You have been listening to your father's discussion." He assumed that this was so. He had absolute faith in her abilities and sense of duty. She nodded. He had assumed rightly. "Then you know what his instructions are. Tell him to bring to me the girl." He smiled at Kanna, "You may take your leave now."

She nodded and, backing out of their presence, closed the room off again.

Inuyasha stared after Kanna. "Will she do well?" Any time anyone messed up the orders of his brother...well, there was always hell to pay. Someone lost a life. Or their soul.

Naraku stared at the son of the general that won the last youkai war so many long years ago. "This messenger will urge the girl to ask Naraku to bring to her the son of the Honorable Hound of the West. She cannot refuse the servant of a land-god." The great general had been terrible. Awe-inspiring. It was a pity: the inugami whelp bore almost no traces of his father in him. "Is this sufficient, Lord Inuyasha?"

"It is. How shall I repay you?"

Naraku paused. "Keep my sister alive, Wild One. Treat the shrine girl as if she were the most precious thing in the world, as though she were your ward. Keep her alive. That is all I ask of you."

The grin on the youkai's face was less than reassuring. "But, of course. Kagura is my companion and my great brother's fast friend. I always take care of our friends and allies. How could you expect otherwise of me?"

Naraku knew he did not need to say it. His eyes said it all. "Who is the girl?"

"Kagome. Higurashi Kagome."

It was unfortunate for Kagome that, when he was visited by the master of the Lower Reaches and bastard son of the Great Hound of the West, Naraku had no idea what to do.

* * *

**I.**

Kagome's grip on her pencil tightened just the slightest. She had felt it again. It scared her a bit. She took a deep breath. _It's nothing. Nothing._

Kagome knew, she just _knew_ she was being paranoid. And yet.... All week there had been a feeling of being followed and of a presence in step behind her. Whenever she looked behind her, she swore that she could see the end of a white kimono disappear or smell the lingering perfume of water-lilies. _There were the traditional robes of the deceased. Yuurei. Those are the worst._

Yuurei tended to get emotional and grow destructive with it. They were tragic souls and human spirits twisted and bound to the earth by passion, strong emotion. They constantly hung around school areas (any area overpopulated by youth or the elderly, really)...and then became warped and malicious, turning into youkai or bakemono when they realized that no ordinary human could hear or help them. Kagome sighed loudly. _I do _not_ want to _be_ here today._

"Problem with the lesson, Higurashi?" The irritable teacher was glaring at her.

"No." Kagome bowed her head. She felt restless; something was about to happen. _Something_....

The instructor shut her book with a snap and re-adjusted her glasses. "It's nice that you decided to actually grace us with your presence today, Kagome. However, _do_ keep in mind that disrupting my class is _not_ supposed to be the reason why you came back to school in the _first_ _place_. _Got_ it?"

Kagome forced back a scathing remark about whether or not school was a waste of time when humanity had bigger, inconceivable concerns. Concerns that she was in the process of taking care of. _And_ she received _no_ gratification for her services to humankind, excepting her angelic little brother Souta, of course. She bowed her head to hid the scowl on her face. "Yes, sir. Please, pardon my crude behavior, sir. I'm sorry."

"As long as you understand—" The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. "Alright. Well, that wraps up the lesson for today. Remember that your essays on the tale of how Susa-no-O gained a bride and vanquished the Yamato-no-Orochi are due two days from now."

The teacher walked out and the class representative called, "Stand. Bow."

Kagome gathered her books and slipped them into her messenger bag, grimacing irritably. She felt that weird presence again, that hollowness in her soul. "What _is_ it...?" she muttered to herself. It bothered her that she could not sense what it was, only knowing that it was more of an absence that she felt rather than a presence. Something wasn't right.

"What is what?" Houjou, an eerily optimistic youth, and her boyfriend from junior high school was leaning over her. "Hey, I was wondering—"

"What are you even _doing_ here?! This isn't even your homeroom, let alone your class. You're a senior!" she fairly squeaked. "I am not dealing with this..." She made her way through the desks and ignored shouts of "watch it, Higurashi!" and "...the hell, Higurashi?" as she pushed kids out of the way.

"Hey, what's the matter Kagome?" Ayumi stood in front of her, a concerned smile playing on her lips. "Ever since you met Taira, you've been acting weird."

"More weird than usual, that is," Yuka added from her other side. "Did something happen?"

Eri, Yuka's twin chirped, "Yeah, you know you can tell us if something went wrong. We're your friends." She shouldered her pack and led the girls out into the hallway.

Kagome looked out to the west, at the sunset, shining though a nearby window. "It's nothing. Nothing at all." _Yeah, I'm just paranoid..._ _This doesn't make any sense, though...._

** II.**

At home, later, when she was taking a bath, she sensed it once more. She sighed. _ When will I ever have peace? _She gathered the foam of her bubble bath over all of her body on the water, just to be sure the yuurei would not see anything. "Please, don't be afraid to talk to me. I won't harm you. I am a miko, after all. Now. What is your business with me?"

The room's temperature dropped. The places where the mirrors had steamed up and misted began to frost over, spidery threads of ice crystals webbing along the surface. The only thing in the room that had not chilled was the water in the bath. It remained scalding.

"_M...mas...r...en...t...Kagome..." _A youth of about fourteen years stepped out of the wall._ "Ka...Kagome...you ar...he...r?"_

Kagome waited for the yuurei to grow strong enough to be able to appear more clear. It would only take a few moments. She has had this happen to her before. _Ah...there he is. _

The boy was from the modern age by the looks of it. He wasn't in the burial robes of the dead anymore but dressed in black cargoes and a black tank. His shoes were customized for skating and his hair was pulled back in a high ponytail; a small silver hoop hung from his left ear and two from his right. _That's what he must have died in..._

His gaze was emotionless, his expression impassive. His mouth was set, somber and grave, as if he had witnessed an entire war, had lived it. Despite this, he seemed to be good-natured and the freckles that spotted his face gave him a bit of naivete to his appearance.

_"Kagome..."_ His voice wavered in and out of her hearing. He sounded like a skipping CD. _"Kagome. You...come... with me? I will...bring...the...Lord In...Inuyasha."_

_What? _"No. No way in hell." She would not ever face that demon dog again. "I didn't know he sent you, but I do now and I will banish you from this place!"

_"No, Kagome!" _His voice was steadier, so much so that the walls shook with the force of his emotions. _"You must not!"_ This one was young. And by the looks of it, very similar to the German _poltergeist. "You must come with me. Do not banish me. I am to guide you safely. You must listen to me. Please..." _

"Alright, kid. I will give you five minutes. Only five. Got that?" Kagome talked big, but in reality she was terrified. Yuurei did not usually ask to guide shrine maidens somewhere.

_"My warden, the god of this territory and your patron, Naraku, sends his regards and hopes that your mother and brother are recovering well and have healed from the shock of you step-father's death." _

"Naraku? My patron god?" _Naraku means 'Hell' in old Japanese, right?_ "How does he know about my step-father?" _Something is definitely off about this..._ "Why haven't I ever stumbled across his shrine or heard of him at all in the old legends?"

_"Master Naraku does not like his location to be found nor does he like to be known. He hopes to find you particularly in good health as well." _The boy had prostrated himself before her as he said this. Then he gazed at her, a sad glint in his eyes. _"He also sends his most sincerest of apologies and asks you to find it in your heart to forgive him for this. He asks that you remember what I am telling you now. He had no choice. And you are needed. That is why he has done this to you."_

"What do you mean?" Kagome stood, panicking. She wrapped a towel around herself and climbed out of her tub. "Done...? Why would I need to...?"

But the translucent boy was not in front of her anymore, he was beside her, no – behind her. _"I'm sorry as well. I had no choice either." _A cold hand rested on her neck and Kagome realized that she could feel her vision fading. _I should have known this was coming.... _Her world blackened into nothingness.

**III.**

Kohaku stared at the young woman he held in his arms. She reminded him so much of his mother....

With the kidnapping he was about to carry out and her being unconscious, Kagome might _really_ hate their kind. However, he consoled himself with the fact that this was all necessary, so he was really not that worried about how everyone would convince her to join them.

Kanna's face appeared in the frosted mirror, "Hurry, Kohaku."

_"I know." _He busied himself trying to reform her energies into power usable for him, in order to traverse the spiritual plane.

This was an unbelievably daunting task, as he was still newly dead these five years. But, he possessed a connection to a god and, eventually, he succeeded.

The girl, clad in a bath towel, became completely insubstantial, causing the towel to fall off of her no longer corporeal body. Kohaku, though, thought nothing of the exposure, as he had the same principles that he died with, and in any case, yuurei do not feel physical desire. She would not be gawked at by him. Her modesty was safe. The easy part of the task done, he set his mind on ascending to the spirit plane.

"Kohaku....." Kanna was watching him through her yata-no-kagami (sacred shrine mirror), on the orders of Naraku probably, to make sure that he succeeded. "Now...."

It began slowly, the ascension, and he wondered if he was even capable of performing his duty. Perhaps all of this was beyond him. But then – then there was a terrible wrench, threatening to pull him into pieces. It left him crying out from the strain of holding the girl's form and his own stable (as if it wasn't already hard enough holding himself together). The moment was torturously long, but a snap or a clap was heard and he was hurtling through the many others of in the plane, matters melding, chaos, mixing emotion, identities converging but he must bring her to Naraku. And there was one final stretch – it seemed to go on forever – it was eternal – he had failed, hadn't he – what would Naraku do?

**IV.**

Kohaku and Kagome lay sprawled on the floor in Naraku's domain.

"He has done well...." Kanna's words were soft.

A beautiful young man stepped out from the shadows, his lips curving into a dangerous smile. "What are your plans now, Father?"

Naraku smiled enigmatically, "Byakuya. Patience." He looked over at the yuurei from his corner by the window. As Kohaku yawned and finally rose, Naraku noticed that – oddly enough – Kohaku had become corporeal just as Kagome had. "Welcome back, Kohaku. You have done well. The debt has been repaid and seeing your sister now will not be a problem."

"That is gracious of you, Master... _Naraku!_" Kohaku gasped as he stood and beamed at his Master. He was alive. He had been dead but now...he was alive.

Naraku glanced at the unconscious girl. "I would prefer to keep her safe for a while, here, where I can watch over her. That is wisest, I believe. Inuyasha, though, will never allow it. Thus, we will go with the Honorable Hound to make certain that he fulfills my wishes, as indeed I am also required to attend the Feast of Seven Lords. Kanna, you and Byakuya are going as well. The wild hound will not like this, Kanna. He will not like this at all."

His daughter's pale lips were still, her voice silent, in response to Naraku's words.

"Why am I alive, Naraku?" Kohaku looked at his hands which felt as real as... well... reality. "Why do I have breath in me?"

The territorial god closed his eyes and drew his cloak of soft white baboon fur around him. "You can thank the girl for that. She has unimaginable power." His smile spread wider, grew ironic while he chuckled darkly. _Perhaps there was more that the gods had planned for these children than anyone had realized. Even the great Sesshoumaru. Or perhaps that is why Sesshoumaru has ordered this._ "I think I know why Inuyasha was chosen by his brother to guide her. I believe I understand everything, now."


	4. Chapter 3: The War and the Weapon

Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to _Inuyasha_. Or the merchandise or the movies or the...

* * *

Ryoudo – A territory.

Skikigami – similar to the western "familiar" such as the cat for the English witch or the snake to the Mayan priests.

* * *

"Does the walker choose the path or the path choose the walker?" - Garth Nix, _Sabriel_, The Abhorsen Trilogy

* * *

**Chapter Three: **_Terrifying_

**Kagome briefly jolted** **into awareness** to the sound of straining voices, raised in fury and outrage. She was somewhere.... The room was dark, a traditional nobleman's house, from the Heian period... A heavy presence seemed to be filling the entire space of the room, pressing her down. Her limbs were weak. She could not move. She couldn't see.... _What's going on?_

"Naraku, you supercilious bastard. What have I said? I want no part in playing governess or warden to some human girl. I told you that I would take care of her. I will, I must. However, I have no sympathy for her situation and it is of no matter to me who she is... I would not stay within your phantom-palace any longer. The girl and I must leave."

"But.... I see. I only briefly entertained the notion that I could keep her safe from you.... Although, we are running out of time..." The voice was cold, and remarkably sad. "Do what you will. Juuroumaru will accompany you. Soon, I shall attend the Gather, as well as the rest of my family."

"You have my gratitude. I will keep my word. I will not disappoint you..."

A shift in the position of the different auras disoriented her. She could hear footsteps coming towards her. _No. No. This isn't real.... _She sensed that he was dangerous. She could feel that he was gazing at her, hear his locks slipping over material, brushing against her. He whispered, "Much is expected of you.... I will be watching. Do not fear them, whatever you do, and be sure to always respect the youkai, no matter how they will terrify or frighten. _Do not fear them_. I will come to you."

She winced as the sound of his voice slid against her ears like a skein of silk would: smooth and gentle, luring her into a feeling of comfort. At first, the calm alarmed her, but the alarm faded, leaving only peace.

"Sleep well, my dear," he smoothed back Kagome's hair. She curled up, pulling a warmth covering her closer, and snuggled in it, as she had when she was a young girl, smiling contentedly. She used to imagine that her father would say those words to her when she was a little girl, just a toddler.

"You will be protected with Inuyasha at your side."

Kagome tried to shake her head. _No_. He was wrong. Inuyasha was something to fear.

* * *

Sesshoumaru, lord of Saigoku and sipped his green tea, contemplating the battles to come. Progress had been made in regards to the rumors and whether there was truth behind them. At the Gathering of the Seven Great Lords, himself at the head, the Lords would hold council and convene at each marking of the middle of the four seasons. The Gather was to be held once more later on. Previously, the lords had chosen his mother, who now went by the name of Shinwa, as the head of the Gather and his father as the commander of the youkai legions during wartime. Now, the honors had passed to him. Of course, in reality, who better to command, organize, fight in, and head the army of vicious monsters that were bent on killing? None other than Sesshoumaru would ever be up to par.

His nose twitched. He tensed. A youkai was near, one that was especially talented at concealing its youki. He sniffed the air once. A female. He decided to address her directly. "Do not attempt to hide from me, Kagura, I smell you. Or have you forgotten who your lord and master is?"

Surely, she had not underestimated him. Then, she would have to die. That would have been very unfortunate for her. And he would have lost one more soldier. Which would have meant that Sesshoumaru had diminished his power, an occurrence that he could not tolerate. He had risen to power on his own, then acquired vassals and servants, adding to his own strength, not just as a youkai but also as a Lord. Losing that power due to his intolerance of impudence was unthinkable.

Kagura dropped out of the air, floating on a large feather, clothed like the courtiers of old. Her scarlet eyes went wide and she grinned crookedly. "Hm? Oh, I am astounded, you actually memorized my scent –"

He paid no mind to her words and merely took another sip of his tea. "I memorize every scent I ever encounter. It is prudent to do so. Each being has its own identity marked by its individual scent. It is necessary to remember all who I meet. In the event of an attack, I would not wish for an attempt on my life. It is troublesome. I never leave myself unguarded." He was slightly amused by the thought of his assassination; what could possibly take his life? H_ow absurd; laughable, the very idea._ "Now. What intelligence have you gleaned by the thread of your brother's organization?"

"That Higurashi Kagome is indeed here, sire. The Lord Naraku will later be coming to join the conclave. He has business to attend first, regarding the barriers around the girl's home. For a shrine family, their barrier magic was surprisingly inadequate, so he has taken it upon himself to strengthen it." She bowed her head to the Lord Sesshoumaru. Her smile was hidden. "My cousin, Musou, has been working for quite some time with these foreigners. He has informed me that Urasue has indeed resurrected the long-dead Kikyou. This will bring about complications in our estimation, though it is nothing your brother cannot handle. The Shikon no Tama is in fact the key to our victory. And as you know, your brother has already obtained it. It is here, now, being taken care of by one of your brother's most skilled sentries."

"Urasue? She could prove to be quite troublesome. Go to the Gokurakuchou. Inform Lady Abi-hime of the conclave. Then, we shall hold the feast. I expect that you will be present."

Kagura smiled wryly,"If you can sniff me out." She waved her fan and rose rapidly into the air, disappearing out of sight, her tinkling laugh echoing.

* * *

A lone warrior stood, majestic and fierce, proud and battle-weary, on a cliff precipice. The fiery plumage on her crown was soaked with the blood of the enemies she felled, the many she slaughtered. She surveyed the expanse of death before her, the snows high on the darkened mountaintop speckled with her comrades' remains. Normally, Abi-hime relished the blood, the sound of skin giving way beneath the fires of her blessed blade, the cries of pain, and the death-rattle in her victims' lungs as they released their final breath. Yet, the foreigners were relentless, and kept using the corpses of her dead companions as undead, animated, soldiers. A clever strategy, if not highly disturbing and extremely disarming. These days, the battles seemed to take so much out of her that she was at a loss.

Abi-hime continued to observe her soldiers' mock-battles as Kagura came to stand beside her. "Come," she said, "let us retire to my tent."She pushed aside the tent flap and the wind-mage followed. Abi-hime sat herself down, poured a cup of tea and offered it to the other female. Kagura declined and waited stiffly for Abi-hime to finish the tea.

The occasional screech of one of Abi-hime's tribesmen sounded through the stifling quiet. She turned and spared a glance at the princess of the Gokurachou, the Birds of Paradise. High up in the north, they were the guardians to the mountain gateway to Tokoyo. These were the only youkai Kagura had seen beside her family, the kitsune, and the inugami able to handle and work with holy objects. Of course, kitsune were partially divine in their own right as servants of the fox-grain-god/goddess Inari but then, Kagura was never any good with divinity and the like.

Abi-hime closed her eyes and murmured, "Kagura. The last time your brother and I met, he expressed that you will have brought news of the southern provinces for me."

Kagura sighed and remarked, "Quite an amount of wolves you have here. Care to explain?"

"Do not avoid my inquiry. I am not in the mood for conversational banter." Abi-hime's beautiful lips twisted into a snarl, her teeth lengthening, a heat burning behind her eyes. "Tell me what Lord Naraku plans to do about the foreigners. You are here for a reason, Kagura. I will not remind you that I will slit your throat before you will have realized that I made a move."

Kagura rolled her eyes and sat back, wondering why she continued to work with her brother after the crazy stunts he had pulled in the first place. All he ever did was bring trouble and mess in others' affairs. Even as a human, he had various machinations going and planned many operations.... She had always believed that he had no heart, however that was not the case. He merely kept it in another place, paranoid and shrewd. "No one in the east, Naraku's lands, has been killed yet. He keeps the peace there well. Of course, that is because his lands rest not only in Tokoyo but also in Japan...." As guardian of the land, her brother had a responsibility to protect the youkai in his territory (all of Japan) in the human's realm.

Kagura began to fan herself, "You are to come with me, as both Lord Sesshoumaru and Brother Naraku implore you to attend the Gathering at the Equinox. Tonight."

Abi-hime's eyes narrowed, "I am needed here—"

"That was not a request, Lady Abi-hime." Kagura's eyes lit by the dancing flames of the fire, a bloodied red. Her countenance hardened into stone. "Lord Sesshoumaru negotiated with the ookami Chieftain Kai. The nomad ookami tribes will help your people. Your General, Tekkei, will be able to handle them on his own. We will depart now." She snapped out her fan and, with a whirl of winds, Abi-hime and Kagura sat atop a large father, sailing away in the sky off towards the setting Sun.

* * *

A rough hand on Kagome's cheek startled her into waking. "Tell me, wench. Have you your wits about you?"

She opened her eyes and saw that she lay swathed in darkness. She stayed motionless, panicking momentarily in the lightless space, but her fear subsided after her eyes adjusted and she began to be able to see. The room was spacious and sparsely furnished, and she had been sleeping on a futon placed in the center. Perforating the dark was that familiar glowing gaze, resting on her.

"Inuyasha," she breathed. The feel of the name on her tongue was as harsh and volatile, as _other_ and as beautiful as its bearer. She raised her head and quickly lowered it back down as a tide of dizziness swept her under. "Where am I? What is...? Where is that man...?" She was naked under the blanket she clutched close to her and a little wet from her earlier bath, probably developing a cold chill as she spoke. "I want my clothes. _Now_."

Inuyasha grimaced. _Human foolishness. Female weakness. Bitching. _Three things he tired quickly of. He growled, now in a foul mood, "You are in my private quarters. I was to wait until you woke, but I am not a patient being." He tilted his head to the side. "The one who told you those things was not a man, wench. He was not a human at all."

"Where is this place, your private quarters...? Why are you here?" Terrified with the realization that she was alone in an unfamiliar room with a dangerous youkai, Kagome scuttled back and pressed herself against the wall behind her, "Your private..."

Inuyasha stared intensely at her, giving her the notion that he was excessively hungry and that she would be quite a delectable meal.He moved closer towards her and pulled her to him, his hand now at the nape of her neck, "Do you know what happened to you?" He laid his hand on her flat belly and tilted her head back.

"No, I don't... Wait." Kagome shivered. Her blanket had fallen off, leaving her exposed and cold. _This is wrong_, she thought.

She remembered the yuurei and her school and the bath and that soul-splitting feeling of anguish.... She recalled the man that was not a man but a youkai, the youkai the reminded her of someone close...from long ago....

The girl tried to worm her way out of his grip but he held fast. "What are you doing?" She hated that she sounded so unsteady.His robes were hot, like woven fire, too hot to bear, but Kagome could not find the strength to run. His warmth was beginning to press down on her, and she began to feel strange. The trembling in her belly worsened. "Why are you...?" Then, there was a pulse. She collapsed on Inuyasha, nearly screaming for the small amount of distance between them. She could feel his youki stirring just beneath his skin, and her power did nothing.

The inugami tried desperately to ignore the putrid odor of human that clung to the girl, refusing to gag. "I must know whether you have been in contact with another youkai or if you have contracted with one." Inuyasha's grip on Kagome tightened as she twisted in his arms. She unsuccessfully attempted to push him away; he was not having any of it. "Hold still, girl, while I conduct my search of a youkai marking on your flesh." He lowered his head, inches away from her skin.

A tingling feeling bloomed, unfurled, in the pit of her stomach. She shivered again, "Why...?" She clutched at his robes as another pulse echoed through her like some great iron bell, tolling the sound of the end.

He kept sniffing her, breathing in her scent at the place where her neck met her jawline and then down. Kagome concentrated on the power that resided in her but was shocked to discover that they had been enervated. Her Grandfather had never prepared her for a situation like this. _Youkai kidnapping miko was practically unheard of...._ A third pulse ran through her, stronger than the two before. She inhaled sharply and bit her lip, "Please, stop..." She found it suddenly hard to breathe steadily. He still terrified her, Kagome realized. "Inugami.... Why did you bring me here?"

The inugami disregarded both questions and continued his "search". "...It would have left a scent or a mark of some kind here..."He finally stopped and leaned back from her. He seemed to be measuring her up. "You are untouched. That is well. Come, wench." He grabbed Kagome's arms and yanked her to her feet. "We must – "

"Stop. I can't just leave – _let go of me!_" Kagome was angry now, not just afraid. She was prepared to try and fight. She shrieked, "I won't go with you. Take me _home_."

"_No_," Inuyasha opened the thin screen so roughly that he knocked it out of the frame. He proceeded to make his way onward. Light from hanging torches lit their path and the shadows cast writhed agonizingly across Inuyasha's features. He appeared much more feral then.

"But, that's ridiculous. Wh-why?" she exclaimed. Nothing really made sense to her at all anymore. It was disconcerting (extremely alarming to say in the least) that he would not even allow her to wear clothes..._What is going on here?_

Inuyasha knew the human should have proper clothes on and didn't – but, he could do nothing about it. Tradition required that his youki flow into her every pore during the time of the ceremony. A ceremony that she knew nothing of nor had any idea that she would be taking part in. He looked back at the girl, the frail human that he was bound by an oath to protect. Her lips were turning blue and her body was still shivering from exposure to the cold mountain air circulating the corridors.

He grimaced, "No. You must come with me. If we are to ever contract, you must follow me and, if you want to get out of here alive, act like you are mine to play with, to keep, and to use. This is but a temporary humiliation." He started forth again, and she whimpered. He tried to ignore the sound, the infernal noise that excited his instincts and the desire to hunt._ The humans were weak, just as Sesshoumaru had always said._ He pulled Kagome closer to him, knowing from previous dealings with the humans that the creatures drew comfort and warmth from such a foolish show of weakness.

The girl was trembling. "I don't understand any of this. Please, just stop. I don't know why your youkai have been stalking me, but...please, just let me go..."

He took her by the arms and shook her furiously, "If others see that you are not vouched for, they will spirit you away in a moment. And then? Then you would never see another day. Right now, I am your only "friend" here." He ignored her small gasp and strode even faster, half dragging her along the corridors. "You must bathe again, become pure, perform ablutions. After that, we may proceed." They came to a stop in front of a door that as he opened led them into the night; outside there were numerous hot springs. "You will bathe and prepare yourself here. Yura will assist you but as of yet she has matters to take care of for my brother. Sango will dress you."

The servant bowed deeply and took the young girl's hands gently.

"Inu... Inuyasha? Why is she taking me here...?" Kagome tried to twist around to see him. He was already walking away. _No...please. Don't leave...._ Her panic rose. "Where are you going? Inuyasha? Inuyasha!"

"Please, control your cries, Lady. The Master instructed me to take care of you as your guard and maid-servant but you are not making my job any easier. Calm yourself, I beg you." Sango led Kagome over to where the water met stones and into the spring.

"But – !" The door slid shut.

Inuyasha turned away, contemplating the outcome of this venture. He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, ears twitching as he listened to the girl's silence outside of the door. She did not whimper anymore, nor did she make any noise at all. He could hear her breathe, anxiously and with more terror. However, she also smelled resigned. _Have I done what is right? _He shook his head. He could not doubt himself, lest their combined efforts would all be for naught. And, in any case, there was no going back from this now.

He loped down the corridors, in search of Sesshoumaru. A random servant scuttled by and he reached down and grabbed its shoulder. The kappa looked up, an expression of stark irritation on its face. "What do you want—! Master Inuya...sha?" It realized who it was talking to. It tugged at its haori nervously and quivered, "Lord Inuyasha...? I – I suppose you are looking for your brother?"

Inuyasha barked, impatient, "I only have one brother, you moronic kappa. So, yes, obviously, I am. Where might I find him?" His brother was an arse.

"He is in the courtyard, with Rin. The stupid girl. I have no idea as to what milord sees in her but...."

Inuyasha ran off, leaving the toad to its own crazed mutterings.

* * *

Sesshoumaru's flinty brass eyes roamed the courtyard as he watched his Rin scamper about, chasing butterflies, in her beloved new kimono. He was very proud of that kimono. It was made of youkai spider-silk, the color of the spring sky at dawn in the human realm and decorated with cherry blossoms that moved across its surface, as though blown by an unseen wind. It had cost him to get the robes woven by the most talented spider youkai within a week. Indeed, the payment had cost about as much as his left arm.

Rin twirled in her kimono and her long brown hair lifted in a cool breeze. "Lord Sesshoumaru, watch this!" As she spun faster and faster she began to slowly rise in the air, floating, giving her the appearance of being weightless.

It had been so long since Sesshoumaru first found Rin, hundreds of years ago. Just a little village child with a pretty smile. He could barely recognize her anymore. She had changed after all those years in the presence of inugami, living in Tokoyo. Her aura had shifted into something else, something more _other._ She was an immortal now. He did not know how, but she had come into some change where she could never age, never die.

"Sesshoumaru," an angry growl reverberated throughout the morning. "You are a blemish on the the hide of my ass!" Silver, black and red rammed its way wildly into Sesshoumaru's line of vision. _Inuyasha._

Sesshoumaru inhaled deeply, maintaining at least some sense of calm. "What now, you impudent uncouth mongrel? I would rather you not use so stentorian a tone around Rin. Her ears have not yet been abased by your vulgarity and I wish it to remain thus."

"Sturentrorinen? Valgreraeity...? What does that mean, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin had come to stand near the brothers while they were unaware. Her young appearance was so human...sometimes it was hard sometimes for Inuyasha to remember how long she had been with Sesshoumaru. She tossed him an infectious smile. "Hello, Inuyasha." For an instant, Inuyasha thought her eyes sparkled.

"Hello, Rin."

Sesshoumaru cut in, "Those words mean nothing of consequence, Rin. Go on and play. You can talk to Inuyasha later and then we will go and view the nightshade blossoms in the lady Suijin's courtyard."

"Okay, but.... Do I really have to go?" Her grip tightened on Sesshoumaru's tapering alabaster fingers, "I promise to be quiet. I swear."

He closed his eyes briefly. "Rin, that is a physiological impossibility for you." Ever since that one time...she had not once been silent. She even made noises as she slept, still plagued by nightmares of the humans that had cast her out.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you are not able to be quiet. It cannot be done."

"Oh..." Rin smiled toothily and began to determinedly braid tangles into Sesshoumaru's hair, "You're just like my very own marbled statute, Sesshoumaru!" Her brown eyes gazed adoringly at her stoic guardian, as Inuyasha watched in fascination. _He isn't going to kill her...? _

"The correct words are _marble_ and _statue_, Rin. _Marbled_ usually only applies to confections. I am not a cake." The inugami lord removed her fingers from his head and sighed, "I heard that another girl has come along with Inuyasha this time, another human just as you are. Have Nazuna take you to visit her if you wish. Now, go."

"Alright. Thank you, Lord Sesshoumaru!" She kissed him on the cheek and ran off shrieking loudly for Nazuna.

The males were both silent for a long pause.

Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha, "You came to me about the girl." His impossibly long hair, immaculate and feathery as snowdrift, swayed in the soft winds as he pushed Inuyasha aside and strode over to the little pond under a nearby cherry tree. The glow of the unearthly blossoms cast a halo of soft pink on his head.

Inuyasha'sgrip tightened on his sword as he came to stand by the lord of Saigoku, "Is this the right thing to do? You know how well the last priestess turned out." The last priestess was roaming the lands now as a lost soul. And Inuyasha was one of her targets. He was partly the reason for her half-life, her damned existence.

"Kikyou had been corrupted by her human lover beforehand. She was a miko of moderate potential. It was merely that she could not handle your power growth. It was no fault of yours that she died because of _her_ incompetence." Sesshoumaru glanced sternly at his little brother. "We _need_ you and that girl to join if we are to win this war."

"I know, brother. But..." His gaze shifted from Sesshoumaru to their watery reflections in the pond. Blossoms drifted down to rest on the watery surface, the ripples forming intricate patterns. Even there, amid the distortion and warping of their images, his brother seemed as perfect, solitary and as distant as the moon. So far from him, almost impossible to reach. It was at times like this that Inuyasha felt truly insignificant in Sesshoumaru's presence. It was at times like this Inuyasha felt that his brother's derision of bastard children such as himself was well deserved.

Sesshoumaru sighed again, sensing his brother's sudden depression. "Go and clear up your apprehension with her. I will not bear any more of your whiny misgivings." His little brother often seemed ridiculously suspicious of everything, but to doubt his judgement? He, Sesshoumaru, the Lord of Saigoku? That was an entirely new level of foolishness and insecurity. "As of yet, this is all that we can manage. All of our efforts point to this. Now then, the council will be meeting soon. I must be off. Your duty is to go, find the girl and bring her with you to attend. She must know the terms of her service under me. I will see you again at the feast."He adjusted his swords Tenseiga and Tokijin, and began to stride away in the direction of Rin's departure.

Inuyasha remained uneasy. "Fine, but do you really think that this girl is the key to finding the...?"

Sesshoumaru pivoted and glared at his little brother with such scathing disdain that Inuyasha froze down to the core of his being. "Do not _ever_ speak to anyone of that. If I am informed of an instance where you did open that filthy maw and so much as _breathed_ a word of it, I will shred you with my claws and feed your meager remains to Ah-un. Do I make myself clear, you ill-bred whelp?"

"Idiot. Stop making me talk. I am far too disturbed to even think right now. No one would ever believe me, anyway."_ She is merely a girl. A human girl._

* * *

******I.**

Kagome stared up into the night, faintly tired. Sort of scared of her captors too, but her fears had abated slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself and wondered if she was ever going to see her family again. A sob rose in her throat and she nearly succumbed to the force of her desire to let it out.

"Lean back, Lady Kagome." Yura took oils and gently worked them through Kagome's midnight locks, slowly easing the tension in the miko's demeanor. The Yura person finally showed up, half of an hour after she washed herself down, and was now helping her bathe.

"What is all this for?" Kagome tried to turn around to look at Yura but swiftly turned away again – the youkai was not wearing much and Kagome wanted to avoid catching sight of any body parts that were just hanging out (namely, her cleavage, which was almost _spilling_) – for the sake of modesty. Yura somehow looked comically similar to a shinobi.

"Look straight ahead, Lady," Yura murmured as she determinedly worked out a nonexistent tangle. "You are human, therefore you taste human. You are a girl, therefore you smell female. You are a miko, and so youkai can sense your aura, a sacred and strong, spirit." She shrugged, "Many would not hesitate to eat you, Lady Kagome. To me, even, you seem utterly...delectable. Despite the fact that your hair is rather lacking...but then, for a human it's remarkably well taken care of." Yura began dragging a long-toothed comb through her hair. The oils only served to lengthen it and make it smoother. The small knots in her hair were gone by then, yet Kagome had a feeling that this was how Yura operated. "Dunk your head under the water."

Kagome did and felt her scalp being scrubbed thoroughly again. Then Yura brought her up out of the water.

"Now step out. You need to get dressed."

Kagome shivered as she stepped out of the waters of the onsen and raised her arms as she was toweled dry by the female she assumed was Sango. She turned to the other girl, while Yura's delicate hands expertly pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, "Sango?"

"Yes, Lady Kagome?" Sango's bangs parted slightly in the mists and Kagome caught the look on the woman's face before she turned away. Yura went over to a nearby chest and shook out robes, neatly pressed. There were several of them.

"You don't seriously mean for me to wear all of those robes, do you?"

Sango did not reply, and Yura deliberately ignored her, stepping back to allow Sango to dress Kagome.

"Do you know why I am here?" Kagome twisted around to face the young woman, "Are you a slave?"

Sango began painting Kagome's eyelids with kohl as Kagome pulled on her undergarments. "No, Lady. I have not been enslaved. I am merely not who I once was...nor am I what I was. Not since spending so long a time here among them..."

"I could tell, from the moment you touched me...you aren't exactly human, are you? I sensed something similar to it.... But, you're not really youkai like Yura, right? If so, why are you taking orders from these youkai?"

"I _am_ one of them. I have learnt of their ways." Sango stared at Kagome, "I am a human no longer, Lady Kagome. I am now...youkai...in nature..."

"Why are you here? They're horrible to humans. Haven't you seen it?"

Sango sighed, for this would bring up old pains and insufferably memories. "I used to be a princess and youkai exterminator.Exterminating and killing youkai is in my blood. When I lost my family (namely my little brother) in one of the many battles between obake, I tried going after Lord Sesshoumaru and nearly died because of it. I was hundreds of years too early." She grinned wryly, "He was too much for me to handle. So I serve the House of Shiranora."

Kagome glanced at the courtyard and the trees and the huge structure behind her, "Sesshoumaru...? Is this his...house?" _Shira...nora? White stray? I've heard that name before... _"You haven't answered me yet, Sango," Kagome frowned, her sere blue stare growing lachrymose. _Why won't she see that they are all malicious tricksters?_ "I shouldn't be here! Why did they bring me here?"

"I am not to...it is not for me to say." Sango paused. The girl's earthy eyes moved along Kagome's face, as if all of her answers were to be found there. Answers to what, though, Kagome could not fathom. "_I_ am here because I owe service to Lord Sesshoumaru for trying to kill him. Lord Sesshoumaru allowed it, as long as I was repaying my debt, if indirectly.... So I became a part of the household."

The house she was in, Kagome's senses "told" her, was not a house. It was a mansion and a fortress, placed on the side of a mountain surrounded by trees. She could feel others in the fortress, tons of youkai and obake and yuurei moving about the place. The entire structure was netted with and intricate web of youki and auras shifting fluidly. The whole experience was soothing, if only briefly, and she was reassured by the psychic "noise". It felt like the city.

Kagome was confused. "Why are you telling me this, then?" Nothing made sense to her anymore.

"I am telling you why I can no longer be among the humans again. Why I can't go back." Sango shook out the second layer to the silken robes laid out for Kagome. "I will live longer...in another year I will stop aging. My skin's texture is changing – becoming like living stone. My strength has become great and I no longer need to eat every day. I need only dine once or twice every few months." She smiled again as she draped the last layer of the juu-ni-hitoe on Kagome's shoulders and stepped back.

Kagome looked down at herself. The longest haori she had ever seen slid down her back and trailed three feet behind her: a stars' reflection-in-the-night-ocean robe. It sparkled and glimmered on the indigo material. That was laid over an incandescent-moon-in-midnight robe which had a pearly obi tied around a winter's-sky robe. Under that went an intricately silver threaded ebony robe. The threads in the silk looked like smoke rising in the darkness. The robes gave her the feeling that she was wearing the sky itself.

Kagome was mortified – three layers and a violet hakama underneath a huge haori, including socks. _How am I supposed to walk?_ Everything was incredibly heavy. "Ummm...can we not wear socks? I am _so_ not comfortable with the socks...." She felt like the socks were just a little too much.

"Of course, Lady." Sango laughed as she put ornaments of silver in Kagome's hair, long silver pins shaped as butterfly wings, "There now, Lady Kagome. You look magnificent. Like royalty. Exactly as I remember it. Here. Your fan, Lady."

Kagome took it and snapped it open, "Do I look like a courtier, Sango?" She giggled, then grew serious, remembering again how much she missed her family, and how much danger she was facing. "I actually do feel like a princess. Every little girl dreams of dressing up like this.... But, _why_ am I dressed this way?" Her voice grew small. "What will happen to me?"

"Did the ceremony go well? Is she ready, Sango?" A familiar voice grated abrasively against their ears from beyond the silk screen. The door pushed wide open. The youkai's eyes were set upon Kagome.

"Yes. As ready as can be, Master Inuyasha." Sango smiled and knelt. "I thank you for this opportunity."

"Get up, Sango. Do not bow. You must prepare yourself as well. The yamabushi will be arriving and my brother wishes for us all to ally ourselves. Go make yourself presentable."

"Master. That includes a short-sword and my armor under my court robes?" Sango's lips spread wide, stretching across her face in a feline snarl. Kagome had never seen any human look so beastly while smiling. _Hadn't Sango said that she wasn't really human, though? Not anymore?_

"Of course. Bring whichever weapon you prefer. Come, Kagome." Inuyasha grasped the girl's hand and tugged. "Sango. You are dismissed." Kagome fell into him again and clutched at his haori for balance. He ignored her.

"Yes, Master Inuyasha." Sango nodded.

"Wait! It's hard to move in this thing..." Kagome tried to pick up the material but it weighed about twelve pounds. "Wait, Inuyasha." She looked back for support from Sango, but found none when she saw that the female had disappeared. _Youkai..._

He glared at her. "Fine." His arms came around her for the third time and swept her off the ground, cradling her. "You can give me a reward for this kindness later, girl. When we inform you of your role in this."

Kagome's eyes went wide. She had no way out of this strange place and had no way to control the situation. Now she was being carried off somewhere by a youkai, an inugami no less, the kind of shikigami that easily betrayed their masters. But, she was not his master. She had no way to control the situation. "Where are you taking me?"

"The feast." _Feast...? _"Where the youkai court of the north, northeast and the west will be celebrating you. Emissaries from the north will also be here. In your honor. The fifteen clans and seven tribes' Lords will hold council here. I am certain in this." _Council? War council...?_

**II.**

The dining hall was large and splendorous, the decorum intricate and naturalistic. It was actually located in a garden, outside where the strange world's moon softly lent her light to illuminate the long archway, where climbing roses and ivy twisted up and around the pillars. Clouds curled around the tops of these pillars. _How high up are we? _The columns were made from marble – a marble so opalescent that it appeared to shimmer – that were carved and lined in silver with scenes of a powerful inugami in battle.

Kagome noticed that one inugami in particular was repeatedly depicted on the beams, "Do you know who that is, Inuyasha?"

"My father." Inuyasha walked Kagome over to a seat near the head of the table. He sat down, crossing his arms and glaring about the room, as if daring the other youkai to mention the fact that a young human – a girl at that – stood in their presence. He pointed one clawed finger to a cushion next to him, "Sit."

Kagome nodded, trying desperately to take in her surroundings, her eyes slowly adjusting to the otherworldly splendor of the hall. "Yes, um...Master Inuyasha."

A long table low, near the ground, was lined by cushions, plush, violet, velveteen, for the guests of the feast to rest on and gathered there was all manner of youkai – a dangerous place for a miko to be. Kagome shivered: she was, by all rights, the natural enemy of every single entity in the entire realm. The youkai were not bothering to conceal their youki, their auras full with a brilliance in keeping with the stars, because of the fact that they were not surrounded by humans.

This was their world. This was their territory. This was their home.

There was a sudden groan from the realm and for a panicked second, Kagome thought that Tokoyo was falling apart.

Inuyasha grinned savagely, "The lords come."

She saw birds flying on fire, shedding frost, singing the song of rains. There was a thunder youkai sizzling with energy, quick in its movements, looking about ready to jump out of its own skin, its laughter loud and booming. There were three wolves, larger than any she'd seen, their fangs like small ivory tusks, running about in the air and dancing with the winds. All of the youkai landed as one, and shifted into nearly human forms. Then they regarded her hungrily, smiling. Servants dressed beautifully, their masters adorned with radiance and beauty unparalleled.

Though many were interesting and all diverse, one caught Kagome's eye, held the attention of the entire room as soon as he entered. He entered the room slowly, not walking but gliding rather, with the elegance and grace of a dragon. Pale like the moon herself and cold as winter. His skin was carved ivory, the clawed marks on his at an oddly fierce contrast with his angular features, giving the delicacy more of an aristocratic feel.

Sango sat down beside Kagome, and smiled reassuringly. She pointed to the youkai that was heading for the head of the table. "As a powerful and influential youkai in Tokoyo, his magnificence is known through the many courts. Often, the other courts have traveled to his house high in the mountains to enjoy the many festivals and revels that are celebrated during the passing of the different seasons."

Kagome sat there, slightly panting under the weight of her court robes, and asked, "Who is that youkai?"

Sango's pleasant voice sounded against Kagome's ear, "He is Lord Sesshoumaru of the Poison Touch." _Poison touch? _This did not sound the least bit encouraging to Kagome. "The House, Inuyasha's brother's House, is currently being used for the gathering of the Court."

Kagome briefly stared at Inuyasha, her brain desperately trying to clutch and grasp at Sango's words. "House?" _Household...as in an Imperial...?_ _He's a noble? _Her incredulity was palpable. _Youkai have nobles. Unreal. _But it was all very real. Too real.

Inuyasha's voice emanated from beside her and into the night. Kagome grew still and silent, listening to his words. "Yes, House. All who remain and live with my brother, the Lord Sesshoumaru, are a part of his House. The servants, the soldiers, the vassals, the land. All are his. His Family, though, that is an inner circle matter. I am a part of the Family. As is Lord General Ryuukotsusei, the leader and representative of the youkai of the seas and waters." A mossy dragon twisted down and took on the form of a grey-haired young man as it landed on a cushion. "There is Lord Naraku, the contact in the human realm, commander and master of the Four Arms, the guardians and warriors of the royal house."

Inuyasha pointed out the youkai Naraku, one of the last ones to arrive, riding through the air in a chariot with wheels of fire, pulled by a youkai horse, also flaming. He was a black-haired youkai, powerful despite his resemblance to a normal human, accompanied by two white-haired children and a tall elfin looking man. He was lethal, like a bullet to the brain.

Yet, Kagome sensed that the elfin one was not as dangerous as the black, silken-voiced, satin-haired youkai, who reminded her of a flower she learned about in botany class earlier that year. _It's called Belladonna, which is Italian for "beautiful lady"_, she remembered reading from one of the internet resources in her class. _The flower is beautiful and dark, the bloom shaped like a Victorian maiden's gown, hanging like a bell. But the plant, if exposed to it, caused a deep sleep, and more than a little resulted in death. _

_ Atropa Belladonna is also known as "Deadly Nightshade", a commonly used poison in the middle ages in Europe._

She shivered as his dark eyes fixed on hers. He reminded her of a person she knew once, though...she couldn't think who... "Hiten...? That sounds familiar.... Can you tell me where they all sit?" Kagome asked. She was in the midst of youkai and likely to be eaten from what Yura had previously implied, so she figured she would go along with whatever the youkai wanted her to do for now.

Sango nodded in a direction opposite of Kagome, where a youkai knelt behind the little girl sitting with Sesshoumaru, "There, you see Hiten, the male raijuu, red-eyed and tall with long ebony hair? It is braided. He sits there with his halberd of lightning and his armor of thunder. Hiten was chosen by Sesshoumaru to be the little Miss Rin's personal bodyguard when the lord is away from her. But, he passed it up and became instead Sesshoumaru's personal bodyguard and attendant. So, his Lady mate, Suijin, became the little miss' guard and handmaiden instead."

Kagome followed to where Inuyasha's gaze was directed. "I recognize Hiten...he...he was with Inuyasha when he came to me for the first time..."

"My brother is a shrewd bastard," Inuyasha interjected, laughing harshly, "so do not try to lessen the bite of condescension in his actions, Sango." The inugami's eyes bored into Kagome's as his grin widened. "Manten —the original bodyguard— Hiten's brother, was incompetent. He unsuccessfully attempted to make Rin into hair tonic. For that, Sesshoumaru ripped him into pieces him and made Hiten eat his own brother's heart –the only part of Manten's body left intact."

Kagome ground out, "That's so horrible..." She had no desire to remain there any longer and wished for an escape, or for them to kill her get it over with. _Oh my gods, what realm am I in?_ "Inuyasha could have just guarded her, right? Why all the killing?" She hated it all. Their way was so barbaric to her. In every way possible, youkai were the antithesis of humanity.

Sango chuckled gaily, "Master Inuyasha is much too reckless to take over such a position. His wild disposition might have endangered the Little Miss Rin. Lord Sesshoumaru did not wish for that to happen, I am thinking."

Inuyasha snorted derisively, "In actuality, Sesshoumaru ordered Hiten to devour his brother's remains to make an example of his mistake. He probably also wanted Hiten to become more powerful and gain the strength of two. Strong soldiers equates to stronger forces and that means power. It is tactical thinking and strategy, no matter how you perceive it." Inuyasha shook his head and smirked crookedly, one of his fangs getting caught on his lip and ripping it open. Kagome knew it was because of the fact that she was a human, and therefore seen as stupid, soft and ignorant to their ways. "He is all that Father was. He is all that I am not.

"He does not concern himself with others, nor their feelings. He only acts when the outcome will further his own agenda, and he is absolute in all that he does. You do not remain loyal, you die. You do not submit, you die. You attempt to defy him, you die. You offend him, you die. You say a word against him and you die. This is how Sesshoumaru came into power. This is how he stays in power and controls his House, how he has survived for so long. This is why we follow him. He is perfection." Inuyasha held a certain amount of admiration in his tone, and pride in his words. These youkai thought themselves superior. Kagome thought them beasts.

"But that aside, Master Inuyasha is the Lord's only brother that has survived this long, so he is of a higher value to Sesshoumaru than most others." Sango spoke with a quiet calm, unperturbed by her own words. Kagome supposed that this was natural, from the way that the young huntress beside her was discussing such unsettling things. _I'm totally out of my depth. Nothing makes sense here..._ "So, Inuyasha became Lord Sesshoumaru's left hand man, taking care of all of the unofficial matters of the common populace in Tokoyo, a bigger contribution than all of the other officials."

"What do you mean...? What the hell do you mean by "value"? How can you speak of someone so coldly?" _This long...?_

"Lord Sesshoumaru successfully killed all of the rest, of course. They were a threat to his power and reign and had to be eliminated." Sango smiled a soft smile, soft like the whisper of the murderer that tells the victim every detail of how they send that victim into death's night embrace, "But Master Inuyasha is quite strong as well and, while he is no match for the Lord Sesshoumaru, he has certainly survived all of the previous attempts at his life. Thus, Lord Sesshoumaru decided that keeping Master Inuyasha would be more useful furthering his purposes alive rather than dead."

The youkai Sango was talking about had just lowered himself onto a cushion in one smooth, fluid movement and flicked his long snowy locks over his shoulder as a charming little girl scampered into the room and snuggled into him. Sesshoumaru patted the girl on the head and she gazed adoringly at him.

_Something is about to happen..._

When he spoke, his voice sent chills through Kagome, "We have gathered here on the Vernal Equinox in this Household in order to understand and terminate the rumors that have been circulating about warfare coming into Tokoyo." And the attention of every being in the room was on him immediately. As the ruler, he commanded, demanded, absolute respect and submission from all present. Even the girl named Rin at his side quietened her chatter, for all her disregard of courtly decorum. Sesshoumaru murmured softly, "Am I to understand that the north is currently blockaded on many fronts, with help from the east?" He looked with disdain at a nearby ookami and the ookami male froze, recognizing a greater alpha. "Lord Kai, speak."

Kagome saw that the youkai looked similar to the ookami from the club, and she inwardly checked his energies. This one was especially volatile, as most line youkai are. His demeanor tense and his expression tightened with fury, "It is as you have said, Lord Sesshoumaru." The ookami paused, his fur cloak bristling, causing Kagome to wonder whether or not it was actually a cloak. "The foreigners are beginning the attack." Each word echoed with the howl of the winds in the mountain passes.

Sesshoumaru gazed coldly down at the ookami kneeling before him, "Can the Birds of Paradise defend their position?"

The ookami appeared to have a strong urge to spit then, but said, "The Gokurachou tribes can hold them off but...they, our age-old enemies, have requested forces and numbers. The Birds of Paradise are many, but they are not swift as we ookami are. Two packs have been dispatched at my Lord Sesshoumaru's command. After our chief's first and second son passed..."

Kagome watched as, collectively, the youkai bowed their heads as if in mourning. Then she shook her head. _Mourning? No way._ _Youkai are not capable of compassion._

"I have seen them. The foreigners. They are arrogant, and their confidence is swollen with victories all along the northern coast." A small youkai raised her head and spoke gravely, her pale face drawn and worn. She was a pale little thing, looked as old as a child, and Kagome thought that she smelled waterlilies.... The little youkai was one of the two children traveling with Naraku.

Naraku, as if hearing Kagome's notion, met her eyes again and smiled secretively, a smile only for her. She shivered. _What is he thinking?_

Sesshoumaru beckoned the little youkai closer. "Kanna. What have you seen of them? Show us."

The youkai-child held a mirror and stood and raised it to the sky so that it drank in the moon's light completely. Then she set it on the table. It began to grow in size, the circle now encompassing the entire table. "They come from the west, far past the oceans of the human world. They were the divine twin guardians, the reapers of holy ones, until..." The surface rippled as water does and the image of two men – or was it women? – shimmered into view, and the two were slaughtering one human after another.

Kagome gasped, horrified, and hid her face behind the long sleeves of her robes. A sensation akin to an ice cube trailing down her spine ensued. She shook, and knew instinctively that the one called "Sesshoumaru" was resting his gaze upon her for one brief second, leaving her shell-shocked and terrified, as though she had just faced Death itself. She then realized that she _had_, in some regard, confronted death.

A weight fell across her shoulders. She smelled...forest? Kagome glanced up and saw that it was Inuyasha's long fur cloak, covering her like a mantle. Her mouth opened slightly in astonishment, but Inuyasha wasn't looking at her. He was observing the image in the mirror. The things in the mirror laughed and their merriment resounded through Tokoyo's night.

Kagome rose slowly, entranced; she bent over the mirror, unaware that the youkai gathered watched her hungrily, warily. The two were Asian, but foreigners, as everyone had been saying, twins: one male, one female. The male was handsome carrying a broadsword and slashing wildly at lovely fowl that screeched agony as they were felled.

Kagome's heart pounded once and she felt her chest throb. It was pulling her again, that thing inside of her belly, pulling and pushing out of her skin. A voice came to her from the back of her mind and shoved its way out of her throat. She began whispering, and her vision blurred. "_'The world is red'. _His land is forbidden to Him, His love is a taboo, His desires twisted..." There were so many images flooding her mind, overlapping: two shapes melding as one, a kiss, blood spilling over the lands, snarls and smiles becoming the same, a young god's hatred for humanity... "the Shikon...He has heard it calling, as it calls you, as it calls me, as we gather, He _gathers_ _us_..."

She saw that He was searching for something and searching for her simultaneously. He had felt her presence probing into their past and tried to trace her energy but she was unable to halt the flow. The woman was there with Him, as if they were two _and_ one being. He was searching but a dark youkai with black silky hair was shielding her presence..._Naraku?_

Naraku strode over to her and smiled proudly, as though he had somehow....

"Our dead prolong their life...a non-existence..." Kagome reached out to him, in the throes of the strength of her _vision_-_sight_. "Nara...ku...." Her whispering grew more frantic rising and flowering into a tormented scream, "_He will take it from us, we will die, we are nothing without the Shi_..." She collapsed.

Sesshoumaru regarded her calmly while she writhed in agony on the floor. "Remove her, Inuyasha. Her cries are...agitating some of the guests here."

Naraku knelt next to the girl as she convulsed agitatedly. He touched her hair lightly, brushing it out of her fevered eyes, and breathed once onto her upturned face. "**_Sleep_**."

**III.**

Inuyasha stared at the girl laid out on the floor. She had stopped writhing when Naraku whispered something to her. Naraku was a creepy bastard and had the putrid stink of humans on him, but he was strong and intelligent, and a useful youkai to have as an ally. The miko girl stirred and whispered something about "daddy", her sleep disturbed and restless. Inuyasha studied her, inhaling that scent, so fresh and sweet. Those flowers again. The human smell had vanished from her person because of the cleansing bath, but her signature scent had not washed away. He closed his eyes and stilled himself. He could feel himself growing excited and had to calm his spirit for the task ahead.

There was a rustling beyond the doors.

Suijin, Nazuna and Rin had come. Rin skipped over to Kagome and remarked, "She smells strange. She is a human?"

Inuyasha regarded the brat before grunting tersely. "Hng."

Rin sat down and imitated Inuyasha's posture, folding her arms across her chest and making her back rigid. She grimaced adorably, and deepened her voice, "Yet, she does not smell fully human.... Why is this so?" She stroked an imaginary beard at her chin, getting carried away with her mimicry. "She has the scent of youkai and divinity upon her..."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "Why are you here, Rin?"

She perked up and settled into a different position. "I have a message for you, Inuyasha. From Sesshoumaru."

She cleared her throat. Her eyes narrowed and she began to sneer as if she smelled a disgusting pile of dung. "Inuyasha. If you have begun to understand the word "sense" and have calmed the miko, then you know what to do. It is time to contract with her." Rin's expression darkened, hilariously similar to Sesshoumaru's countenance. "And if a imbecilic mongrel such as yourself cannot comprehend even the simplest of instructions then I will discard the few scraps of hope I have harbored for the growth of your intellect. And, for Tokoyo's sake, do not make another mess of this one." Rin grinned and sat back, studying Kagome's face as she'd seen Inuyasha do. She found nothing of interest, so she let her attention wander. "Can I watch, Inuyasha?"

"So, it is time we begin?" Inuyasha growled. As much as he hated this, loathed humans, he knew it must be done. To win the war. To obtain the Shikon. His energies pulsed once, twice, thrice, soon throbbing in time with the beating of the girl's heart. He gathered her into his arms with her neck exposed, and lowering his head, sniffed along for the pulse. _Humans. _He bit down.


	5. Chapter 4: The Becoming

Disclaimer: I claim no right to _Inuyasha: a Feudal Fairy Tale_ nor to any media or merchandise associated with it.

**Author's babble**: I took a long time spitting this one out. Sorry for the wait. Okay, here we go...

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"We must become the change we want to see." - Mahatma Gandhi

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**Chapter Four: **_Becoming_

**The heat was unbearably dry**, raw, unbridled. Kagome gazed up at Inuyasha as she thrashed wildly on the floor, convulsing. He was pinning her down, straddling her, keeping her from banging her head against the floor. His lips – oh, how they burned her so – were clamped firmly on her skin, his teeth in her neck, and her own light – blue and pure – was simmering in response to the foreign energy. She gagged and tried drawing breath, but her chest would not move and her lungs felt shriveled. Her breath emptied out in a scream, ripping her throat to shreds, and she arched her back. But—Inuyasha was speaking to her, not with his voice but himself, and he said into her – _Do you accept me? Do you accept my power? Do you accept this?_ – and Kagome screamed in her mind, _Yes_. _Anything to end it, to make it go away._

And then liquid was being poured into her mouth, light as air but the humor heavy. She could feel the aching in the substance like the throbbing of an old battle scar, long since dealt. The place on her throat where it hurt her the most became petrified like stone. She screamed again, bucking, her eyes rolling, like a maddened horse. She could not think for the pain, the fire, burning through her veins, burrowing into her bones. Agony, it was sheer torment, nothing was horrid as what she suffered.

"Suijin..." And that voice grated against her ears driving her mad, pulling at her essence. It coursed through Kagome's veins rapidly, bringing her into an inferno. "Ease the pain. She must be sound in body and mind." Everything in her was afire, she had to push it out, had to get rid of it, force it out, her skin was _melting—_

"Lady Kagome. Be still." —and then water was crashing through her, coursing under her skin, cooling the heat with an almost painfully refreshing chill. "Hush..." It was smooth like a stream and flowed just as gently into her consciousness, calming her, lulling her to a state of serenity. She slowly stopped thrashing and fell limp in Inuyasha's arms, pacified.

She could breathe again, but her chest felt torn and it hurt her to inhale. She did not have the energy to cry. She was dimly aware of something rough and moist being dragged slowly over the place where it burned. She was so tired....

Inuyasha pulled back from Kagome after licking her wound closed and regarded Suijin. "It is time that I take my leave. Rin. You are to stay with Suijin and Nazuna." He lifted a drowsy, fatigued Kagome into his arms and carried her off to the forest. He ran, fleet of foot, along a well-worn path, traversed by him many times.

The darkness was a welcome change of pace from the harried court existence he had to endure because of his brother. The girl in his arms, still not completely aware of herself, clutched at him, her face buried in his neck. The feel of her mortality was slowly fading. She was to be trapped in the frail body, forever seventeen winters. He felt something wet trickle down his chest. She was crying.

He tightened his grip on her as her thoughts became more clear to him because of what had transpired. He hated it; he felt her suffering acutely and gritted his teeth. _That pain is nothing compared to when Izayoi..._he stopped himself. _No_. Thinking about her would only intensify the pathetic human emotion he was forced to experience just then. _Forget about her. There was nothing you could do. Humans are weak. Thus, they break easily. That is what brother taught me. That is truth. _When at last they arrived where he had intended hours later, he set her down on the grass, knelt before her and called her name. "Awaken," he commanded.

Kagome shook her head as the haze cleared in her head and found herself, once more, in a different place than she had previously been. She felt strangely calm and decided to begin to evaluate her memories in order to understand what had transpired. _What went on back then?_ The dark-haired one had said something to her and then she had been bitten...and her body had burned.... _What did he do to me?_

_ You agreed to the contract. Now, you are made better for it. Be grateful, wench. You survived._

_What?_ That had not been her thought yet it had sounded clearly in her mind. _Who...?_ She found Inuyasha in front of her, the newly designated bane of her existence. She glared at him, serrated blades within her stare attempting to cut him down.

"I heard that, you little bitch." He leant in close to her, and threw her that hated predatory grin, the one she had come to know so well. "You are my master, in a fashion. I know your every desire, wish, thought, I can see all of your memories, and your secrets have been laid bare before me. However, even if you are now my master, you can only have so much control over me. And do not once believe that, because you have mastery over me, I _personally_ care about you. I do not. You are useful. That is the _only_ reason why this has been done."

Kagome was very still now as she glowered at him with all the wrath and resentment she could muster. "_What_ has been done to me?" Her body shook and her rage rose quickly. She could already feel the changes in her body, parts of her dying to make room for newer bigger things. Her blood was tainted with youki and yet she could still use her power. That should never have been possible.

Inuyasha snorted derisively and grabbed her by the throat, light, but threatening. "Getting angry will do you no good. Should I say it again? _You have no real control over me_." He laughed as she snarled defiantly at him. She struggled despite the fact that she knew it was useless. "You cannot leave. The youkai truly have possession of your power now. You can only return to the human realm when my brother and the lords agree to it." He sobered abruptly. "Do you understand? There is no way out."

Kagome thought of what that meant, giving up everything. No way out. She might never see her family again, nor her friends. Her eyes grew wide and she shrieked at Inuyasha, beating at him with her fists, her cries dissolving into sobs. Her tears felt hot as they ran down her cheeks. _Strange. I feel so cold. _Anything she had ever experienced before that moment in terms of her heart was nothing. Nothing. Not when her first crush rejected her, not when her grandmother died, not when she realized that she would never get to meet her father had she ever experienced true heartache. The feeling of her entire world falling down around her, the knowledge that she was absolutely powerless, the realization that she was completely alone.

She knew that Inuyasha had wrapped an arm around her and ignored him until he drew her closer to him. _Let go of me_, she demanded silently. _Don't touch me. It's your fault._

Inuyasha growled, this time out of frustration._ I can't. Your pain is in me too, damn it._ He had sensed her need for comfort and knew instinctively, as he was her shikigami, that whatever she needed, he would be compelled to provide her. Those were the terms of contract between shikigami and owner. And he hated every bit of it. _Sesshoumaru most likely planned for this, the sadistic bastard. He would want to see me suffer the whims and emotions of a human girl._ He pulled back from Kagome, annoyed at the intimacy and barked, "Let us return to my brother. He will be expecting us soon." When he tugged on her, he was not surprised by her lack of cooperation. He released her, "_What?_" He was again tiring of her weakness. He had no idea how he was going to deal with an eternity of this.

Kagome just glared at Inuyasha and sputtered, "Don't you have _any_ compassion at _all_?" Tears kept seeping from her eyes. She was unable to make them stop. She was being forced into everything and despised the fact that the youkai had so cleverly left her with no other choices, no alternatives than to join them. They had taken everything away from her in the span of a few hours.

Inuyasha countered, "Do you want to live to see another day?"

_What does that have to do with your lack of kindness?_ "Yes, but—!"

"Then," he brushed aside a teardrop with his thumb, "do as I say. Unless you want to become a meal." He turned and began walking off.

* * *

Naraku had been gazing after the pair, long after they left the room. He sighed now, settled comfortably on the floor once more. At times such as these, he felt his age and the burdens that came with it. He glanced at the lord, whose brassy eyes cast a chill over his fellow lords. "Lord Sesshoumaru," he professed, "I feel it imperative that you tell us whether or not she is indeed what you name her to be: an ally and our victory."

He knew he spoke not only for himself, but the other lords at the Gathering as well. They had all heard whispers of the miko but were too anxious to confirm them.

There was a rustling from the eastern side of the table as Abi-hime nodded, concurring with Naraku. She queried, "Is this miko child worth our efforts? Can we give her our hopes and lay our future in her hands?" She clutched her sword tightly as her expression tightened, a strange combination of weariness, anticipation, fragile hope and disillusionment. The lords were all holding out for the girl, and she knew nothing of anything just yet. But that little display she had put on a short while ago led them to believe.... "Is this Kagome child truly the Shikon no Tama?"

Silence like city smog choked the air then as the youkai fearfully waited for Sesshoumaru to deny it. Hiten glanced at Sesshoumaru, and the lord knew what Hiten was thinking: _"It is safe to let them, and only them, know the truth."_

Sesshoumaru briefly shut his eyes, grew expressionless as he addressed them. "She was strong enough, though frightened and caught off-guard, to bring my brother down to his knees and then send him back to his brethren with only her power-infused voice." He paused for a moment, thinking of when he first felt the rumored, the prophesied Shikon no Tama come into the human realm seventeen years ago. A great many conflicts arose then, youkai revived and driven to dispute for the sake of the power a mere human babe had held. "Naraku possibly suspects, just as I have sensed it, that she is his and the priestess Kikyou's get. Their descendant." The Gathered lords did not show signs off surprise, or rather, hid their shock well behind masks of stone and granite. "But, let us return to the former issue..." Sesshoumaru glanced down where Rin had been sitting. He was acutely aware of her absence. Sesshoumaru had never truly been that aware of anything.

Naraku was smiling again, to himself, contentedly watching the proceedings with utter calm. He asked Kai, Chieftain of the ookami tribes which were the peacekeepers in Tokoyo, about the images in Kanna's mirror, "These are the ones that fight Guardian Abi-hime's people and are invading our lands?"

Kai nodded his assent. "Yes." Kai looked to be a mere adolescent, though he was possibly older than the lot of them, with the exception of the youko with the thick golden-red mane, Shippou. "We have, as you said been assisting the Gokurakuchou in every way possible yet...their numbers grow by the second and ours diminish with each passing day. Without more assistance, we can not hope to survive this. It is my sentiment that we procure another child of the gods, in the event that the miko may not be enough."

"If I may put forth a suggestion, Lord Sesshoumaru." Shippou spoke then, his voice running with undercurrents of wisdom belonging to the old and the carefree persona of the young. Sesshoumaru nodded. The youko smiled, "I motion to bring forth a powerful young monk, trained in the mountains with a hermit master and apprenticed in the martial arts to the tengu. He could act as support in terms of power and skill for the miko. The gods know we are in need of such."

Taigokumaru, lord of the bat youkai, leader of the Hyakki tribe, waited for a moment to speak. "Lord Shippou," he rumbled in a great bass, "is this monk you have heard tell of a steadfast human?" His responsibilities reached far as the Guardian of the Ryukyu Gates to Tokoyo. He expected all in his presence to be as he was: committed to duty.

"More or less." The star that Shippou wore about his neck glinted with black light. Like a seven year old boy with his bauble, the small youkai rolled the ball about in his hands. It would have been humorous if Shippou was not a respected, thousand-year old youkai with a wealth of power.

The silence that greeted Shippou's statement was not a pleasant one. Abi-hime trilled scornfully, "Trust a dubious fox to lose itself to vague speech and semantic riddles."

Shippou grinned wickedly, all trickery and play, but there was malice behind the frivolity. His turquoise eyes flickered with a phosphorous light. "Trust a flighty chick, not long fallen out of the nest, to foolishly wander into that fox's open _jaws_—"

Sesshoumaru's voice sliced through the air, left their hides prickling as though with fever. "_Enough._" His command burned it's way sickeningly through their blood. "We did not come to quarrel like mere pups, we gathered to survive. Or am I mistaken in this?"

"No, you are not mistaken." Shippou gave a long look to Abi-hime and, humbled, bowed. "I apologize, Lord Sesshoumaru. I was in the wrong and my actions were rash."

Sesshoumaru had the look about him of one whose patience had long since disappeared from him. "It was your right, Lord Shippou, as you did not instigate this display of idiocy. You are the Judgment in Tokoyo. I cannot fault you for acting accordingly." The was another silence. "Abi-hime." There was such venom in that one word that Abi-hime immediately subsided, paralyzed, forced into backing down.

Abi-hime flinched at the blatant lack of honorifics, a clear sign that Sesshoumaru had lost vast amounts of respect for her as a Guardian and a warrior. She took a deep breath. "I beg of you, Lord Shippou, please pardon my baiting and discriminatory words. I became frustrated with the situation and could not contain my anger." She bowed, forehead touching the ground, fingertips touching. "I am not usually prone to such childish behavior." She had to make sure her penance dealt by the Judgment was not too harsh, so she tried to humble herself, please him. Make him see that she was truly remorseful.

Shippou tilted his head to the side, his signature gesture, and grinned again. "All beings are entitled to such foolishness on occasion. However, times such as these are not the most suitable." He there was a faint warning in his words and Abi-hime heard it. She chilled inside.

Kai spoke again, "On the subject of the monk, I second Lord Shippou's original motion. More than one divine child is strategic. We would be wise to gather as many resources as possible."

Sesshoumaru glanced around, at Hiten, Naraku, Shippou, Abi-hime, and many others. "We have our little human go search this monk out, then?"

A thick ripple of movement followed this as the lords simultaneously murmured, "Agreed."

A fluttering of what sounded like wings as a swirl of paper cranes and wind whirled behind Naraku. Kanna picked up her now normal shrine mirror and moved aside as a tall youkai, elfin in features, stepped forward. "Lord Father," he knelt before Naraku. "I have information on the foreigners. Would it assist your efforts if I present it to the Lord Sesshoumaru?" His delicate lips had a cruel twist to them, as if a grimace hovered just above his mouth. He looked much like Naraku and his eyes were Kikyou's. Naraku, for a fleeting second, remembered a long-ago pain. He brushed it aside, as youkai have no use for sentiment. Nor for heartache.

Naraku nodded his assent, faintly proud of his children, of their information network. They were the very reflection of each aspect of their father, especially his youngest son Hakudoushi, a near replica of him in power and personality. "An illusion if you would, Byakuya."

Byakuya smiled and in an instant the conclave was sitting in what appeared to be a throne room, not unlike Sesshoumaru's, but golden and celestial. As one, the youkai stood. The illusion Byakuya created was intricate, a sensory fabrication to convey a tapestry of the tale. The scent of dew and ambrosia perfumed the shimmering air, overwhelming the youkai with the ephemeral splendor.

Byakuya waved a slender arm and the scene changed. He spoke, his voice dead and toneless. "It began long before the court of Tokoyo was formed, in the stars above the mainland....

"She was beautiful, her skin like the shine of the moon, her hair as red as vermilion wrath. Every move she made was made with beauty and elegance, glimmering as the sunset does upon the ocean. The prodigy of the Celestial Court of the mainland. The daughter of Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor of the Heavens. She was named Mingya. She was gentle and sweet and the beloved of the Celestial beings. The circumstances of her birth were unknown.

"Some said she arose, full-grown, from an erupting volcano, and others still professed that she was found, a baby, within a bloom of a crocus...." As Byakuya related this tale a long sheaf of paper rose high in his hands and unfurled into a blossom. "Mingya sang with her blade, their sounds weaving through the air as they both hacked and gutted, the weapon and wielder becoming one. She was happy that day, for it was the day that marked her birth, and many of the celestial ones had gathered to celebrate it. The Eight Immortals had come to bless her as well, and the Long-Wang, the Dragon Kings. All of them told Mingya that she was one of a kind, special, a rare kind. But somehow, deep in her heart, she never felt satisfied by that.

"She decided to run from the pleasantries for that one day. That choice is what ultimately led to this entire conflict."

A waterfall shimmered into view, and a boy sitting on a stone was playing a mournful song on the flute. "This youth, called Shihong, is what drew Mingya to the the place where she fell from grace. He was raised by humans, a couple that lived in poverty. The boy, as he grew, began to exhibit great strength and virtue, honorable and kind. He did all the chores in place of the man who raised him, and nursed the woman back to health when she fell ill. Now, look upon what happens to him, and notice the significance."

A woman appeared behind the young man, gazing at him with wonder and fascination. The youkai watched the immortal yearn for that virtuosity and that young man.

Sesshoumaru muttered, "The two are twins." He was revolted. That such loathsome and pathetic creatures should encroach upon _his_ territory, _his_ governance, _his_ nation...it was unpardonable. His gaze leveled. _Pestilences. _He would personally see to their termination.

Byakuya merely looked at Sesshoumaru. "Yes."

And the lords and servants watched with disgust as the twins met, conversed and fell in love. They joined in the cascade of the waterfall, happy, unknowing, and carefree. _It is almost too tragic_, Naraku thought, _if for one second I forgot their transgressions against our kind._

Byakuya spoke again as the scene changed. "Huang Di and the Jade Court became horrified as his daughter and son committed their sin on the day of their birth. When Mingya returned to the Jade Palace with the young man, he stripped her of her titles, possessions, name, race, and the right to stay anywhere in any of the denizens' of heaven's domains. They fled, with only two swords and the clothes on their backs, to what they call Fusang. Tokoyo."

Byakuya lowered his gaze. The illusion fell away and he returned to Naraku's side. "In order for us to ascertain any information on their motives and reasoning, Hakudoushi or one with similar abilities must encounter one of the twins directly."

"No. We have someone that is able to do so now." Inuyasha stood before his brother with Kagome in tow, surveying the lords. "Kagome is ready, I believe."

He led her to sit near Sesshoumaru. There was a youki beside her: Hiten, the one from the club. She saw a white-haired youkai that gave her the same feeling as Naraku, and he gazed blankly at her, his mask obscuring the lower half of his face. His eyes unnerved her, for like the little one named Kanna, his eyes were devoid of anything. The inugami on the other side of her she had already dealt with, and she was too terrified to even glance at Sesshoumaru. From what Inuyasha and Sango had previously stated, the inugami leader was a truly fearsome being. One could not even entertain the thought of trifling with such a youkai.

"She survived you," Sesshoumaru remarked, looking at his now contracted brother. "It seems your misgivings were misplaced."

"I think I will wait and see. I have grown exponentially in terms of power since Kikyou. I wonder yet if she can contain me, a youkai of my strength."

Kagome glanced sharply at him. _Contain? How?_

A handsome, very human-looking youkai that was exuding youki snorted derisively, "Strength? Don't kid yourself, Inuyasha. Anyway, let's drop the formal shit and get down to business. Yura. What've you seen lately in the human realm?" He was resting his chin in his palm, smiling slightly, a reckless attitude hanging about him like a cloud. A halberd was sheathed on his back, surprisingly not severing the long black braid hanging over his shoulder. "My Banryuu is practically screaming for blood."

The youkai shinobi that had helped Kagome dress sat in midair, on wire like a trapeze artist. Her laugh was wicked, cruel this time. "My dear Bankotsu, alas, I have heard nothing. The best one to talk to would be Naraku, for the fact that his brethren have eyes and ears everywhere. Kanna dowses with her sacred mirror, Kagura hears whispers of rumors floating on the winds and Byakuya has many friends and allies."

Naraku twitched at the sound of his name and raised his head slowly. "They, neither of them, have heard any news." He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "Kagome," he addressed the quivering, fatigued teen, "my sisters told me interesting things about you. Is it true what they say? Ofttimes, I cannot tell. Poor thing. You must be terrified." She could not tell whether he mocked her or was simply being kind. But kindness could not be expected from these dark creatures.

Kagome instantly tensed, her hand going to her heart. _Do they know? Do they know? _"I," she stopped abruptly because they were all staring at her. Clearly, they had not thought her capable of independent thought, let alone lucid speech. "Lord Sesshoumaru, I wish to make an appeal to you." She panicked inwardly, not knowing where the ability to speak with the youkai according to their protocol came from. She looked to Inuyasha.

He nodded slightly. _Yes, the knowledge came from me. Warn me, though, the next time you wish to go rummaging through my head._

Kagome bit her lip and smiled her thanks. He ignored her. She sighed inwardly and bowed to Sesshoumaru, "My lord Sesshoumaru. I know you think me to be of use to you however..." she stopped, unsure of how to continue.

Sesshoumaru gave her one long measuring look and then blinked once. "Dispense with the formalities, mortal. Your lack of knowledge in court decorum is not entirely unexpected."

_Alright. Dispensing with formalities._ "To speak plainly, I'm so not good for this kind of thing. I haven't even finished senior high school, let alone my training. My grandfather needs to help me finish 'cause I haven't learned everything yet. So..."

"Your point, girl?"

"I want to go home."

The uproar amazed Kagome. There were all kinds of sounds and odd yowls and infuriated shouts and expressions of outrage. An oni even attempted to lunge and devour her in his rage, and would have succeeded had Inuyasha not sensed the movement and intercepted the attack. Kagome found herself in the arms of Inuyasha once more, his sword poised in front of them. He stood so that he was guarding her from behind and his weapon covered their front.

"Down, Kyoukotsu," Bankotsu commanded lazily. "Inuyasha will cut you in half. And I won't stop him."

"The girl thinks that she can just come and go as she pleases. Let me devour her." He stood tensely, muscles jerking, ready for action.

"I said **_no_**," Bankotsu yawned and glowered at Kyoukotsu. "That is up to Lord Sesshoumaru. Not you. Sit down before I cut off your legs and make sure that you'll never be able to stand on your own again."

Kyoukotsu stubbornly pushed on Inuyasha an increased the pressure on the blade. Blood spurted. Inuyasha simply said "Bankotsu" and within less than a second Kyoukotsu was falling down and the hem of Kagome's robes was smeared in blood. Kyoukotsu was still snarling, the fact that he was sliding in two unregistered by his brain. Kagome turned to bury her face into Inuyasha's chest.

Bankotsu stood up behind Inuyasha, saying, "I told you I would cut you down. Why didn't you ever listen to your brother? Now look at you. You're dead."

Kagome shook her head refusing to hear and understand what had occurred. _He killed his own brother_, she remarked silently with horror.

Inuyasha flicked the blood off of his blade and sheathed it. _Of course. Kyoukotsu was useless._

"Indeed," Naraku smiled, somehow able to seem more hostile than Sesshoumaru. He sat rigidly, his eyes filling and overflowing with animosity. "Lord Sesshoumaru is the only reason we bothered to gather, the reason behind the presence of the girl in the first place. Her life belongs to the Lord, and not any of us have a right to it. Lord Sesshoumaru? What say you on this?"

Sesshoumaru met Kagome's gaze. "No matter where you go, Inuyasha will always be with you. If you should think to run, I will know. If you betray our good will, I shall know. If you make an attempt on my brother's life, I will know. The clan Shiranora owns you, as you are connected to one of my blood. You can never escape us."

Kagome felt the sorrow welling up in her heart but she pushed it down again. "I know, Lord Sesshoumaru. I won't do any of that. I can't."

"Then, for training and strengthening yourself and my brother, you may return to your village." She could not believe it. Sesshoumaru was supposed to be heartless and cold. "But know this. When the lords call for you, expect blood. You will come back. Do not expect to return again."

Kagome prostrated herself before Sesshoumaru, crying again. "Thank you. Thank you." Her sobs were loud, and she was being watched again, but in that moment she could care less. She just felt happy to go back home. "Thank you." she felt two hands pulling at her middle, picking her up and carrying her like a sack of potatoes. Kagome sighed in relief. She was going home. She was going home.

Naraku stood again and asked, "Shall I do it then?" Sesshoumaru nodded. Naraku turned to Kagome who remember the last time Naraku stood in front of her.

"Do what?" Inuyasha grabbed her arms and held her back. "What's going on?" _Oh no, not again..._

Naraku advanced and breathed one word against her ear. "**_Sleep_**." Kagome collapsed against Inuyasha, who seemed to want to drop the girl and walk away. Naraku smiled ruefully. "Would that we had met under better circumstances this time, Miss Kagome."

Sesshoumaru grimaced and angled his head. "Naraku. Send your son after them once they have departed. Hiten, Yura and Bankotsu will follow as well."

Kai murmured, "I too, will to send one of my kin with them." He would keep track of the Shiranora whelp if he could help it.

Inuyasha looked up. "I wish to bring my servant, Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru flicked his hair over his shoulder again in a careless gesture. His eyes shut and his white lashes glowed like moonshine. "Do what you will. It matters not. As long as she is still usable by the end of this."

* * *

Somewhere out in the darkness of Tokoyo, an immortal stirred. Shihong moved out of his tent, carrying with him his sword. He looked up at the light moon, the eternal twilight-midnight of the realm. The eternal night was refreshing to those such as he. He took a deep breath, then started. "It has vanished." He cast about his senses. It made no sense to him. He had felt its constant presence it just a moment before. Shihong felt shock ring throughout his being. "The Shikon no Tama is gone."

* * *

**I.  
**

_Flannel pajamas really _are_ the softest_. Kagome blinked wearily as she glared at the sky out her bedroom window. She had just been woken up by the sound of thunder crashing. The noise was deafening. Rain penetrated the air in the manner of arrows, but it was not enough to clear the atmosphere of the dreary fog that hung over the heart of the forest, waiting to come down on a person like a guillotine. The trees were shadowy and smudged at the edges, as if their existence was not completely defined as what they truly were in reality. The blurriness made her eyes hurt. She sighed heavily and thought back to what had happened during the last couple of days. _Had I really been spirited away by that yuurei, the mongrel, and his cohorts?_ She was supposedly joined or bonded or something to that inugami...did that mean the mongrel was now her shikigami?

"Watch who you're calling mongrel, human bitch." She froze. _No. No way._ "Oh, yes, Kagome; you brought me back with you. We're joined now, _Mistress_. Much as I want to, I _can't_ leave you. By the way, you should go see to your little brother. I can hear his shrieks."

Panic seized her. She threw back her sheets and rushed to Souta's room. It was true. He was shrieking. _Oh, no. Not Souta. Please not Souta. _She felt Inuyasha nearby and shouted, "What did you do to him? You beast!" She felt like throwing something at him. She eyed Souta's alarm clock, debating it.

He laughed shortly and she jumped. He was right behind her. "_I_ did nothing. Blame your bloodline."

Kagome shot him another resentful glare and proceeded to try to wake Souta. "Souta? C'mon, Souta, it's me. It's Kagome. Wake up. Wake up. You're safe." _Relatively._ Slowly, her brother ceased his tremors, and Kagome wiped away the perspiration caused by his fevered dreams. "It's gonna be okay now."

Inuyasha laughed again when he caught her train of thought. "_Relatively._"

"Kagome?" Souta cracked a eye open and gasped, a shout of joy escaping his lips. "Sis! It's really you. You came back!" She threw his arms around him and the squeezed each other tightly. Inuyasha turned away, disgusted once again by the mortals' tearful display of emotion. "Mom," Souta shouted, "Gramps, Kagome's back! Kagome's back!"

It sounded to Inuyasha like a stampede of humans as they all plowed straight into the room and hugged, crying and sobbing things like "we thought you had died!" and "what happened?" and "where did you go?" or "I was so, so worried, Kagome, don't ever do that to me again!"

Kagome grinned and bore it well until at long last, when they calmed she introduced them to Inuyasha. "Guys. I want you to meet Shiranora...ah...um...Shiranosuke. Taira Shiranosuke. He's my...well...what I mean to say is.... We've eloped."

Souta narrowed his eyes, "That's bullshit! You never do _anything_ without telling me first." _Oh. That's right._ Kagome had to admit it to herself. She told Souta everything, from her dreams, to school drama, to guys she liked, to when she had first met Inuyasha. The siblings had always been close. She had a hunch that Souta knew exactly who Taira Shiranosuke truly was.

"Souta! Where did you learn that kind of language?"

"Mom, I go to _public_ school. How can I _not_ learn it?"

Inuyasha glared murder at Kagome and she thought furiously, _Unless I tell them something like this, how the hell do I explain where I was and why you're here now? If we really can't separate like your brother says, then this is the perfect excuse for our attached-at-the-hip condition. I don't like it either but it'll have to do._

Kagome's mother had caught the looks the two had given each other when her daughter had made the announcement. And those expressions convinced her. To be able to communicate with each other on that level through mere glances—that is _true_ love.

"Oh," she said, "you must be upset with Kagome because she spilled your secret and you wanted to ease us into the surprise, is that right?" Inuyasha stared. _How stupid can these mortals get?_ "Come downstairs, you must tell us how you met over tea. Come downstairs Kagome, I made omelets for breakfast, your favorite." She was about to take Inuyasha's hand but Kagome beat her to it, grasping it tightly, knowing that nobility, youkai or not, did not allow random people to touch them without invitation. "Oh, you two _are_ very close aren't you?" She took Kagome's grandfather by the hand, "Daddy, come on. Let's leave these two alone for a little while. Souta, you too."

"What was _that_?" Inuyasha demanded furiously as he pushed Kagome against the wall. "Do not do things as you see fit, without my permission. You—"

"Oh," Kagome angrily pushed his arms away and sat on Souta's bed, "really? Can't I? And _who's_ your "mistress" here? Sesshoumaru? I don't think so. You do as I say when you're in my world."

Inuyasha glowered again then sat himself on the floor. "Tch. _Fine_. So, now what will you do? You know, you're going to have to say farewell forever soon anyway."

The weary girl in front of him exhaled heavily. "I know. Humans aren't stupid, despite what you beasts think. We're just stubborn." She buried her face in her hands. "I just wanted to see them again, is that so bad?" She felt like there was something pulling her down. It was so weighty, she could hardly breathe. Not like she would be breathing soon anyway, what with this so-called war—

Inuyasha's voice cut through her thoughts. "_Stop_ _it_." He looked as if he were somehow even more furious than normal, and uncomfortable to boot. "Just _stop_. I hate it when you do that! Your keep invading my head and it becomes hard for me to untangle what belongs to you and what was originally mine. So keep control over yourself, alright?"

She snapped, "I've hardly _ever_ been able to control my abilities or emotions and, since I'm a girl, they're connected, so right now don't expect anything!"

"I _don't_. I have no idea why Sesshoumaru thinks—you know what? Forget it. Let's just get this all over with. Then we rest. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "What does _that_ mean?" Then she noticed something. His eyes were violet and his oh-so-long hair was now black. He had no youkai marks on his face or arms and his fangs had become shorter. They looked just as sharp as before though. "Hey, you look—" Human.

"I know. See this magatama necklace? Helps me fully conceal myself. Naraku taught me how. Just get downstairs. I'll be right behind you." He put his arm around her shoulders as he steered her down the hall. He still had his hakama on, though, in style of the old courts. He was missing his shirt.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. _Why is your arm—?_

_ They think we are newly wedded. Well, we should make an effort to look like it at least._

_ How do you know—?_

_ Where the kitchen is? I can follow their revolting scents as a trail. It lingers. It is how the Shiranora become such good trackers._

Kagome grew irked by his proud attitude. _Wow, what a perfectly stereotypical example of _dog_ youkai._ Kagome was growing snappy and she knew that was only because—

_Want me to _act_ like a dog? Because I am perfectly fine with gnawing your flesh off._ He helped her off the landing and they shuffled into the kitchen._ You are too tired. Your bitching is annoying me. After this, you are sleeping. Only then may I be relieved of your thoughtless inner chatter._

Who's_ the one with inner chatter?_ Kagome slumped down into her chair at the dining table. Inuyasha sat down beside her and she realized that she had to keep acting like they were madly in love. She laid her head on his shoulder. _Sorry 'bout this. _

_ I told you to keep up with your lie. Do not apologize. _

Souta took Kagome's hand and smiled up at her, but his eyes told her that he knew exactly what was going on. She smiled back at him. _It's good to be home_. Her mother set the food down on the table and smiled at them while Kagome blessed the food. Her grandfather was busy glaring at Inuyasha like he was trying to force the inugami to return his granddaughter's stolen innocence.

"Well, young man," her grandfather began, "it seems that my daughter is quite taken with you. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't banish you from this household right now." He squinted his eyes at Inuyasha while the inugami lazily threaded his hand though Kagome's hair, day-dreaming wistfully about scalping her.

Kagome's eyes widened. _Scalping...? Scalping me?!_

_ Do not be concerned. I cannot harm you. I only wish to._

_ That's what worries me!_

Inuyasha chuckled at Kagome's thought and spared the old man a glance. "Old man," his eyes glinted amber for a moment, "you would never be able to keep us apart." _Not with this accursed contract in place._ "We are bound together for all eternity."_ Unfortunately_.

Kagome's mother clapped her hands with joy, touched by his proclamation. "Oh my, how romantic. Kagome, when your older, you'll look back on this day and cherish this memory."

Kagome gave her mother a pained smile. "Cherish? Will I?" She shook her head, straightened and handed a bowl of rice to Inuyasha. "Here. Just say the word if you want more." She set it down in front of him. "Eat up."

"So, tell us, Kagome where _did_ you meet him?" Souta was smiling innocently up at her. She knew it was a question directed at her lie. "Mom's _dying_ to know but we're all a little curious, you know." Souta knew everything, or at least could deduce that it would not be long before Kagome was gone again. And it looked like he was not happy with that. "I wish our cousin was here to see this."

"Ayumi introduced us." Kagome said. It was true, at least. Ayumi _had_ introduced Shirazuki Taira to her. But not Inuyasha. "He heard about me when he was getting tattoos at her shop."

"I see..." Souta tilted his head up at Inuyasha, "Are you yakuza?"

"Don't you let them hoodlums go after my Kagome!" the old man shook his fist at Inuyasha.

"You mean those claw marks? Those are rather painful, aren't they?" Kagome's mother studied his bare chest and then slapped her forehead.

Kagome was faintly alarmed. "Mom? Are you okay?"

"How thoughtless of me! Taira, dear, wouldn't you like a shirt? You must be cold. I can go get you some of my late husband's clothes, I'm sure you're the same size." She seemed genuinely concerned about Inuyasha, which unnerved him.

"I cannot feel the cold." He mumbled, staring at food in front of him. He noticed that Kagome was looking at him oddly. "_What_?" he hissed at her.

"Why aren't you eating?" she prompted him.

_Is this not an offering?_

_ No. Not really. I mean, I'm offering it to you but I don't expect—_

_ What do you want in return?_ He gazed at her somberly and she realized that this is what inugami were originally in contract for: offerings of food. That was tradition.

_I'll think of something later._

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded, digging into his rice as if he had not eaten in a thousand years. Which was entirely possible.

Kagome groaned and buried her head in her hands. _I can't wait to get to bed._

** II.**

The next morning she came to regret that thought as she woke up in the arms of Inuyasha. She panicked for a second and prepared to scream until she again remembered what had happened yesterday. She had been so worn out that she had fallen asleep at the table. Inuyasha must have carried her back to her room and tucked her in as repayment for the breakfast he ate earlier. And he was probably sleeping beside her because he refused to sleep on the floor like a dog. Or – the gods forbid – a servant. She shivered, though she did not know why. She did not feel cold, on the contrary, she felt hot. Inuyasha was like a living, breathing(only when he felt like it), intelligent(?), irritating, portable heater. She absently traced the claw-rending patterns on his chest until his eyes flicked open and he grumbled, "I have been awake for a very long time, you know."

"Um...." she squeaked. "Is that so?" _So he knew about the...?_

"Yes." Inuyasha did not sound happy about this. "And I was bored out of my mind. I had almost been at my wits' end until my brother sent me a messenger saying that the others have arrived and are patrolling the area. You have to let them in soon. One of them has a bad temper. He is very impatient."

"Oh, and _you're_ practically the bodhisattva of steadfast endurance and patience? _Right_." She paused. _Wait a minute...!_ "You brought along your _friends_?" Her outrage was severely crippled by the absurdity of her situation. "And they're outside just lounging around? What gives you the right—!"

His hand wrapped itself around her neck, hovering ever so lightly, like an axe just waiting to fall. "As my brother would say, I will no longer tolerate this insolence, mortal."

She gulped and smiled widely. "I'm so looking _forward_ to meeting them."

"Better." Inuyasha untangled himself from her and opened her window. "Now. Come." He reached for Kagome, whose eyes grew wide as he hefted her up.

"What...?" And, with her tucked under his arm – "What the...?" – he jumped out of the second floor window to the ground – "_oh_migod!omigod!" – and dropped her to the ground – "_Ouch_!" – before whistling a high-pitched note.

There was a clap of thunder and a whirlwind before them. When it calmed, Kagome saw that the ookami and the youkai called Hiten from the club, and Sango was smiling at her with Yura standing beside Bankotsu, and the white-haired youkai from the gather that reminded her of Kanna. Kagome's eyes widened and a shudder ran through her. The morning was chilly. She wished absent-mindedly for a jacket.

"Hey, Inuyasha, how're you handling her?" Bankotsu strode up to Inuyasha and clasped his arm, grinning. He was clad in white, his blue armor and colorless silk similar in style to Sesshoumaru's.

Yura remarked drily, "It may be the other way around. The master is quite the handful after all."

Inuyasha glared at her, and it amazed Kagome how companionably they all acted with each other. "Do you want me to rip you to shreds? It will not be quick and I will make sure it's absolute torment." He hated whenever they undermined his authority by acting that way with him.

Yura laughed, "Only if we can play bondage first, _Master_ Inuyasha."

Hiten raised an eyebrow. "Can we please remember the matter we alighted here for?"

Kouga stood apart from them, looking faintly disturbed by their exchange. Sango took the opportunity to stand with Kagome. "It is fun to watch them enjoy themselves, yes? Lady Kagome, I am glad I can serve you again. Please, make the best use of my abilities as you possibly can. It is an honor."

Kagome, surprised, giggled, comforted by the oddly light-hearted moment. "Yeah. I didn't know he could be like this. And, I'm glad you're here too, Sango." Then she looked at them, all in human guise, all having normal black hair, with the exception of the murderous one with the mask and white hair. They looked like they had just come back from a costume party. Swords and giant boomerangs and naginata in plain view. Suddenly, Kagome felt tired. "Aw, _man_."

Sango gripped Kagome's shoulders. "Is something wrong, Lady Kagome? Do you feel ill?" She looked so earnest.

Kagome shook her head. "I just..." She looked up at the skies, clear and fresh, different from weather the day before. She could still smell ozone though, probably from the raijuu. He was powerful yet, and she still felt the energy crawling through the atmosphere, though it was less painful than before. It merely seemed like a faint buzz. She wondered if that was because of the contract between her and Inuyasha. Did the bond include a sort of tolerance to youki? She walked over to the gaggle of youkai with Sango in tow and announced, "Guys. Are you going to be following me around for the time being?" Inuyasha nodded. "Then, we need to fix your outfits. Pronto. You don't blend in at all."

They stared at her, bewildered. "I was positive that my robes were not damaged..."

"What is wrong with how I appear?"

"Do I seem unkempt?"

"Who is 'pronto'?"

"Does my hair look dirty?"

"Speak for yourself, bitch."

_Ugh, how do I make them understand? _Kagome waved her hands, "No, no, that's not what I mean. Your clothes," she pointed to Yura as a prime example, "are not the um...appropriate attire for the...city. I mean—you should dress like you were born in this era. Okay? I mean, I can see that you were all chosen because you guys have the most human appearance..."

Bankotsu nodded, "I get it. Don't worry, little lady. Juuroumaru and I have been to the human realm many times. We live here, mostly. The two of us are, after all, related to Naraku."

That name again. _What—Is this Naraku guy everywhere or something?_ "Does that have anything to do with you two looking human?"

"Yes." This came from Juuroumaru. He said it quietly but Kagome had the feeling that, because he had presence, he could be in an auditorium, speak in the lowest of whispers and still be heard. She felt discomfited by his stare. He was looking at her as though he wanted to devour her.

_ He most likely does want to devour you._

_ Inuyasha, don't scare me!_

_ It's the truth, you little idiot. Why do you think he has a muzzle on?_

She shivered and quickly looked away to observe Kouga again. He was surveying the area, like he suspected they were about to be attacked at any moment. He suddenly growled a warning. Then she heard someone behind her. "Sis...your friends...I knew it...it's beginning."

Kagome whipped around and saw that Souta was walking up towards them. He was studying each youkai closely. "No," she shouted, "run! It's not safe to be around them." As soon as she spoke four were around him, their weapons drawn. Bankotsu was beside Souta, his weapon poised against the boy's temple and Yura hung upside down, her unseen wire about to slice into his neck. Hiten was in front, tip of his naginata hovering of Souta's heart while Juuroumaru came from behind, claws extended and gripping Souta's sides.

"Stop. Stop it, he's my little brother! He knows everything! Stop!"

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes then subsided. The rest followed suit. "How does he know?" Bankotsu said, "No youkai would ever divulge that kind of information to an outsider." The metallic sound of his Banryuu sliding into its scabbard resounded through the morning.

Souta shook his head. "I never talked to a youkai. But I've seen it when I sleep. I've seen you fighting the war. It's not good." He looked at Inuyasha, "Hey, big brother. You're taking her to war aren't you?"

Inuyasha just glowered. _Does this brat have power like yours Kagome?_

_ No...but he has just as much skill, if not more. And he sees things. In his dreams. Don't you even _think_ about using him. He's part of the only family that matters to me._

"Could you make sure she gets out of it alive? I'd like to see her again." Kagome had never seen Souta so serious before. He stood there, hands balled in shaking fists looking about ready to cry. "I knew where she was all that time. I know where she's going. I can see that you're all very strong. But please, Kagome," he implored, "stay alive."

The youkai were silent for a while. Kagome knelt and hugged Souta. They both knew that she would most likely die. _If those dreams were accurate..._ "I promise I'll come back someday." she thought she would start choking up again but she could feel Inuyasha's irritation stirring, so she quelled her sadness.

Souta measured each youkai up and then nodded. He turned to Kagome. "I'll call up our cousin."

Kagome shook her head. "What? Why? What does he have to do with—?"

"You're going to need him and he's gonna be involved soon anyhow. _They_ contacted him." He nodded at the youkai. "I'm gonna go get ready for school. You'd better hurry up with this and get ready too. I'll keep acting like nothing's happened. I'll help out whenever you need it, 'kay? It'll be better if they all stay here, right? I'll tell Mom that they're _his_ relatives. Oh, and, it's _your_ turn to feed Buyo."

Kagome's eyes softened. "Souta..." He knew everything but he was still okay. For a ten-year-old he was handling it well. She was glad that he was supporting her.

He looked at Kagome grimly. "Just, be okay."

Kagome nodded. She sighed heavily, knowing what she had to do. Her eyes shut and her breathing steadied a she spread out her power and felt the warding spell on the temple and around the grounds. She began chanting her jumon and felt out the parts of the barrier harmful to these youkai, adjusting the frequency of the spell and made it harmless to the ones standing there with her. "_I pray thee, spirits of the forest and mountains, gods in the heavens and of the dawn, lend unto me thy divine power and render this barrier able to protect these around me, protecting mine own. Thy strength be mine, to wield and to hold..._"

There was a heave, as though the land exhaled, and Inuyasha noticed that his shoulders and energy felt unburdened. He felt significantly lighter, more powerful. _Had her power been able to affect us that greatly? _Kagome finished and took a breath. She told Inuyasha, "There's someone I need to call before we do anything. Then I can get ready and go to school. You can enter the house now. It's alright." She walked through the long halls of her home.

They piled in after her. "So _this_ is a human's dwelling? I had forgotten. It's been so long."

"No, fool. It's a temple. Normal humans don't live like this."

"Um," Kagome cut into their conversation, "Just wait in here. I'm going to make my call now." She rushed into the kitchen, nearly knocking aside her grandfather and tripping over her mother who said, as her daughter whisked past her, "Kagome, you should know better than to run about the house! You're seventeen, don't act like a child. By the way, I've got futons in the closets of the guest bedrooms for your husband's family. And Souta's almost done with his bath. Do you want to inform the school of your situation?"

"Thanks Mom." Kagome punched in the numbers on the corded phone as she sat on the counter. "I'll get ready soon. And, no, I don't want them to know. I want to graduate at least. They'll kick me out if they find out I'm married." She waited for the tone to end.

The voice on the other side was tentative. "Kagome?"

"Hey, Ayumi." _Here we go..._

"What—where have you _been_? It's been weeks!"

"...I eloped with Taira."

"Kagome, that's not funny—!"

"—I'm not kidding. He's staying here with some of his friends and family. They're helping out here at the shrine. But, um, they lost all their luggage on the way from their towns and now what their wearing is um...shrine hands' clothes. It's sort of a..."

"Fashion emergency? Got it. I'll be there in thirty. What about Eri and Yuka, though? Aren't you going to let them know what happened?"

"I'd prefer you not let them know. Bring them if you have to but...don't bring Houjou, whatever you do." _Anyone but Houjou. God, that'll mess everything up._

"I don't think I'll have to. I think he can sense you."

"Not funny."

"Not trying to be. Well, alright but just so you know, I'm gonna leave it to you to explain it to Eri and Yuka. Oh, and don't worry about funds. I've saved up a lot."

"Thanks, Ayumi. I owe you. Big time."

"I'm just glad you're safe."

Kagome said nothing to this. It's not like she really was. She had a temple full of dangerous people that could devour them and she was about to go to war. The concept of "safe" did not even factor in this dream-like equation.

"Bye."

"See you soon." Kagome rubbed her eyes wearily and rested her head against the cupboard. Everything was draining for her now. Or maybe that was just because Inuyasha was devouring all of her mortality. She just felt so tired. And soon she had to practice the old kotodama with her grandfather, who was currently digging up old scrolls on controlling shikigami for her. She felt a presence and started in surprise. "Oh!"

"A 'fashion emergency', was it?" Bankotsu was suddenly leaning on a counter next to her then, not in the family room at all. He was smirking a little.

"Were you there the entire time?" Kagome was still wary of him. She did not trust any of Inuyasha's friends. She saw how they looked at her, and she knew how they saw her. Either she was revered as a "lady" or some stupid chit of a girl, barely strong enough to harm a fly. They saw her as defenseless. Or formidable. If she was careless, they could all turn on her and—

"Still suspicious, then?" Bankotsu shrugged and scratched his head. "We won't turn on you, if that's what you're thinking. And I see by your reaction that you are. Listen. All we want to do is make sure you're safe. You're our salvation, y'know? We can't hurt you. And, even if we did, Sesshoumaru'd skin us and use our hide to make his boots. We have a job to do and we'll do it right, no holds barred." Kagome grimaced at the gruesome picture he painted. Bankotsu smiled at her, "Little lady, I'm a youkai. What else would you expect from me?" He pushed up onto the counter to sit beside her, pausing to consider her. "You should have your own weapon for this war."

Kagome leaned back. "Why?" Then she remembered her dream. ..._Her bow and arrows were clutched tightly in her left hand, while the other was held by a youkai_... The second part had already happened. She was now in contract with a wild youkai. Inuyasha. Her shikigami. But, she had a bow and arrows in her hand in her dream. Way back in ancient times those arrows had not been just for show. They were talismans, amulets, weapons against the unnatural and unknown. "I guess that I could join the kyuudo club at school...learn a bit of archery there..." she jumped down from the counter. "I'm going to go get ready. When my friend comes over, since you speak in a modern way, could you handle the rest of them. I'd appreciate it if you did." She felt like she could at least trust Bankotsu. He was the most humane out of all of them there.

"What's she coming here for?"

Kagome jumped down from the counter. "She's going to give you guys a disguise so that you can walk around without being inconspicuous. You're gonna look like normal people in modern clothes." She ran up the steps to the bathroom. Somehow, for the moment, everything felt like it would be okay.


	6. Chapter 5: The Entourage

Disclaimer: I do not hold any claim to the _Inuyasha _merch. and/or franchise or characters

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"Not for me, not for you, but for us." - Roman Proverb

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**Chapter Five: **_Homecoming_

**Nothing was alright**, Kagome had realized later that week while she waited for the group of youkai in the house to finish fiddling with their clothes. They were all going on an outing that day into Tokyo. Kagome was taking a break from the training (with the youkai) and the studying (with her Grandfather) for some shopping and walking through the city. Kagome's mother had informed her that she could probably do with some fresh air and a bit of exercise ("You're looking a bit pale, dear. Are you sure you don't want to go out?").

They had all been getting a little rowdy being cooped up in sacred grounds. There were more than many times Kagome had impressed upon them the importance of not drawing attention to themselves.

And they had listened to her every word. _As if._

Kagome tapped her dark green converse-clad foot impatiently and muttered, "Need help with that? Well, Inuyasha?" She sat back on her bed, legs crossed under her pleated black and grey plaid mini. Her jacket was already on, and she had just wrapped her scarf around her neck. _It would be a windy day_, the weather-man had said.

The youkai in question was struggling with a particularly irritating zipper on over-sized black cargoes and kept trying to put on a chained belt. His claws simply were not made to maneuver around such contraptions. _The poor thing._

Inuyasha grimaced at her. She knew what that look meant: _No_ and _What could a lowly human such as thee ever do to aide one such as me?_

Kagome rolled her eyes and sighed. She seemed to be doing a lot of sighing these days. Of course, anyone would if they had been spirited away, put through torture, contaminated with youkai energy, began the slow process of losing what made them human, and forced to drag an inugami noble everywhere for the rest of their immortal life. She wanted her cousin's help as soon as possible but he told her that it looked like it might be another week before he could make it. That wasn't good news for her. Buddhist monks were useful in these situations.

"Kagome."

"Hm?" The girl was yanked out of her pensive silence and pushed back into reality. _Except, this doesn't feel real at all...it's so much like a dream that I can hardly bear it...._ Then a realization struck her hard. "Wait...you actually...you called me by my name?" _No way...._ Surely, this meant he was going to acknowledge her as a sentient being, independent and intelligent. "Can this be—dare I say it—respect?"

His leveled gaze told her otherwise. "What nonsense are you spewing now, human wench?"

Kagome pressed her fingertips to her temple and massaged it, hoping to get rid of the ripening migraine before it could fully come to painful fruition. Why gods, why? "What do you want, Inuyasha?" She hoped it wasn't anything too unreasonable. It had been a full week and he still had yet to adapt, both to living with her and figuring out that he was unable (or rather, was not allowed) to be "excessively violent". He had been giving her an enormous amount of trouble as of late, barging into her room and making odd demands, watching over her like some man-shaped hawk. Or a freakishly jealous boyfriend. Or a husband. Which was what everyone believed.

Inuyasha said at last, "Zipper." He pointed to the crotch area and Kagome silently cursed her fate. _Of course it has to be an embarrassing and intimate area. Of course the one I despise most right now is demanding I even put my hands on the crotch of his black cargoes. Of course._ She swore if she died, so help her, if she ever encountered the three fates, there would be hell to pay. _Say your prayers, Urd, Verdandi, Skuld...._ Kagome quickly tugged up on the zipper then pulled her hand away like it had been burned by acid.

Inuyasha ignored her and looked at himself in the mirror. Tall and wiry, long wild black hair—he finally looked human. He shrugged on a crimson hoodie, refusing to wear a shirt because "the damned things are too tight (bring something looser)". His human (pet) girl had nothing "looser" so he just went around with only the hoodie. With that magatama necklace and those tattoos, he definitely looked a sight.

Kagome scowled prettily, her thoughts pervaded by Inuyasha's. He was thinking about how good it would be to just rip her "obnoxious" mortal friends into shreds. She figured that was probably what he had been thinking the first time they had met. She again sighed.

Out of all the spare clothes Kagome's friend [Ayumi] had procured from her father's designer company the youkai had to pick out the ones most suited to what they were used to.... Yura, sexily clad in a black mini, revealing halter top and knee-high boots, was currently prancing and hanging about the shrine grounds, keeping herself flexible. She kept flaunting her stuff the last couple of days, traipsing around the place like she owned it. That image was not one that belonged on holy ground.

Hiten was slowly dressing himself in loose dark blue jeans, steel-toe boots, and a green tank, his naginata in jackknife form and his sky-colored sash now a scarf.

Juuroumaru, still with bleached white hair and his muzzle appearing as a surgical mask, sported a dark green jacket, dark chained Tripps and sea-foam tank. He actually had gotten the hang of putting on clothes from the modern era. What Bankotsu had said proved true. Those two _were _used to the human realm.

Sango had chosen black skinny pants and pink high-tops, as well as a long black coat and pink tank. She carried around a lot of slim knives in her coat. It had seemed to Ayumi that they were all big fans of somber colors paired with natural colors.

Kagome took all of this in with her disbelieving eyes: _For the love of all that's good and holy...they look like they're in a gang. _She could almost feel the world give way beneath her feet as she led them out the door and into modern society. And society looked on as she led them through crowded sidewalks, wondering what a nice-looking girl like that could have possibly done to get mixed up with rough folk like them. The youkai followed her diligently, though it was more of an escort/entourage kind of feeling they gave off, as well as the classic"If you so much as_ look_ at us in the wrong way—who knows_ what'll _happen?" feeling. They glared and snarled at passerby when humans glanced at Kagome. Hiten's flaming wheels had transformed into a dragon-painted skateboard (an illusion) and his earrings were shortened to studs. He skated about, going on ahead constantly while Kouga jogged, shirtless, alongside him.

There was one instance where Inuyasha and Juuroumaru nearly beat the living daylights out of some thugs. The thugs had thought Juuroumaru dyed his hair, trying to be cool. They had thought Kagome was fair game and that Inuyasha was just another street-punk. After Inuyasha and his best were through with them, they were lucky if they even thought at all. All day it was this for Kagome: Kouga kicking a salesclerk in the face when the poor man had said to the party of seven "no shirt, no service" (Kouga would only wear low-slung brown shorts and indigo converse all-stars. Kagome tried to tell him how troublesome it would be, but he ignored "the wench" and did as he pleased.), Inuyasha backhanding a guy that was ogling Kagome, Sango throwing a guy that tapped her on the shoulder in a department store, Bankotsu smashing the face of a yakuza that accused him of being a "punk-ass bitch" and "kid" (youkai pride was strongly felt; they weren't "goats, dogs, or monkeys...I mean, humans", apparently)...the list went on.

It had happened yet again when they were all sitting in a booth that afternoon at Kagome's favorite corner cafe, called Phantasms. The place was quiet usually and enjoyable. The atmosphere was dark, the mood pensive and sobering, which Kagome figured the youkai, creatures of the Twilight Realm, preferred.

Kagome had been sipping her mocha cappuccino contentedly (in a desperate sort of way) and Inuyasha's arm slung was carelessly (correction: _possessively_— as if he would _ever _let the Shikon no Tama out of his sight) over the back of the booth. He and Hiten were holding a detailed discussion about the best way to decapitate humans without a blade (claws or brute strength?). Kagome knew that the people in the booth behind her could probably hear everything the two youkai said. The customers might be more than a little disturbed – and most likely put off their meals. She looked away, instead, searching for a more pleasant sight to focus on.

Juuroumaru, who had pulled down his surgical mask, was munching on an absurdly large apple and cinnamon muffin across from her with an impressive single-mindedness, broken chains and cuffs on his wrists clanking and jangling away. He had been quiet the entire time, and Kagome realized that Juuroumaru was simple, one of few (if any) words. He often did as he was asked, placid until someone angered him. Then, he was an absolute beast. Kagome shivered, remembering the blank stare, the chilling apathy in Juuroumaru's eyes when he had plucked out a minor youkai's innards and devoured them. Calmly, ever so calmly.

Juuroumaru looked up at Kagome briefly as if he had heard her thoughts. She went still for a moment. He went back to his muffin and Kagome breathed her relief. Aggravating a hungry youkai was never an intelligent course of action.

Yura and Sango were playing cat's cradle with some string (Sango was just about to solve it) when all of a sudden Houjou popped in. _No. Freakin'. Way. _Kagome froze and ducked her head into Inuyasha, hoping, wishing, praying, willing him not to see her. "Oh, no..." It didn't work.

Bankotsu had been staring out the window, sipping his chai tea. She felt that he was bored out of his mind. He was looking like he wanted just one asshole to fuck up. (He seemed the type to do so.) He glanced up now, noticing the change in her demeanor. "Somethin' the matter, little lady?" He was oozing anticipation.

Kagome took stock of him. His outfit wasn't too bad, in terms of being inconspicuous and innocuously human. He was looking handsome in a dangerous yet down-to-earth kind of way. It was in the way he pulled off the look of painters jeans, black cuffs, a white wife-beater and polished combat boots. Bankotsu was one of the only ones with experience dealing with the human realm, so everything came easier for him. She was glad for it. He had been the one to help her handle awkward situations with humans. She remembered how well he handled Ayumi. He was actually "human" about it.

Kagome smiled tiredly, "I'm fine."

Sango had noticed too. "Did you see someone that you do not like? Worry not, Lady, we are here." She looked resolute, and Kagome saw no hesitation in Sango's will and surety in doing her duties to protect "the miko girl".

_That's what worries me..._ "Thanks, Sango. That was nice." Kagome offered her a weak smile, then surreptitiously checked to see if Houjou was looking at them. She felt her blood run cold. He was nowhere in sight. She hoped to the highest of heavens that he suddenly decided that he hated coffee and tea and cafes, turned on his heel, and walked out.

"Higurashi! Fancy meeting you here! It's been a while!" a loud and disturbingly chipper voice chirped behind Kagome. There was a shift in the little band's awareness.

_Holy... Some miko I am..._she thought. _What good are my prayers if the gods won't answer them?_ "Hou—Houjou...hey...." _He has to sit behind me, doesn't he? He has to put himself in danger, huh? _Kagome struggled to keep that smile on her face.

Inuyasha noted the strain on her expression while Kouga observed the goings-on with a disdainful air that rivaled Sesshoumaru's. The ookami kept singing in a soft baritone a delightful little ditty about a princess and a youkai (excerpt: demon boy, demon boy, why do you laugh? "If women are truly fickle as the phases of the moon then I shall surely kill and devour her"). It brightened (try "dampened") Kagome's mood immensely.

Kagome felt energies stir.

"Who in the seven hells are you?" Inuyasha gnashed on the words, ripping them with his tone like they were meat. This "Houjou" person wanted something from the miko, he could practically smell it. _Well, whatever it is he wants, he can't have it._

The others around Inuyasha and Kagome stirred and shifted in their seats, ever so slightly, looking more casual and relaxed by the moment. The passive persona they affected seemed too passive, forced. Kagome could see what was happening: they were preparing for an assault.

Houjou, if he was spiritually sensitive, might have felt the dangerous shift in the atmosphere, thus wisely walking straight off the premises. However - unfortunately for him - he was not. "Hey, I don't recognize any of you guys. Do you go to our school? Is that how you know Kagome?" He was very polite, but youkai hated dealing with an unknown that knew anything of theirs (namely Kagome). Being polite would get a person nowhere. It was like mockery to them anyway.

Inuyasha's arm slid around Kagome and his fingers tightened on her shoulder. His face twisted into a menacing snarl. Yura was weaving a complex design rapidly with her string, faster by the minute. The design she was weaving? Agitation.

Bankotsu straightened up, saying, "We don't go to any school. It's sort of unnecessary for our kind. You know?" Back at the shrine, he had chosen to keep his sword Banryuu in switchblade form. He took it out now and started to idly play with it. This was the kind of passive-aggressive threat one learned to recognize if they had run-ins with the "wrong crowd" way too many times. Or dealt with youkai.

Houjou tilted his head, "No. I don't know. I'm sorry." He did sound truly sorry, possibly assuming that they were all illiterate delinquents on the road to becoming uneducated yakuza. Kagome clung feverishly to the hope that, since they were "illiterate delinquents" and therefore dangerous, he would leave them alone. "It's not too late to start, though. You all seem like you have _great _promise."_ No such luck..._ Houjou, good-natured, but sadly misguided, seemed to want to stick around.

The youkai were getting curiously more relaxed, calm, nay—serene, even. Kagome decided to take action. "Houjou. I think you should leave," she told him gravely. She had to get him out of there. Ayumi was just barely tolerated for Kagome's sake but she was positive it wouldn't be like that with Houjou.

His features grew soft with pity and he almost gushed, "Oh _no_, did I offend anyone? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—!" He stopped short as Juuroumaru finished up his muffin with one hand – the other being firmly clamped around Houjou's neck.

Each one of them slowly rose from the table, circling Houjou. Bankotsu smiled recklessly, "Juuroumaru likes to eat his meals _without _idiots bothering him. You've spoiled that for him. He hates it when his meal time is spoiled. It upsets him." He briefly regarded his friend. "No one likes him when he's upset."

Juuroumaru licked the crumbs from his finger then placed his mask back on himself. He cocked his head to the side and he only said one thing: "Spoiled..."

The floor cracked. Houjou's head was what broke it. Pieces of tile flew up around Juuroumaru as he went to work on the boy. The metal chains on his wrists jangled like pretty bells.

Kagome stared as she remembered Inuyasha's words: Why do you think he has a muzzle on? She had to do something, fast. "Guys..." She tugged on Inuyasha's arm, "Inuyasha, make him back off." But he would not listen. Juuroumaru sent Houjou flying out the window Bankotsu had been staring at. The glass rained down, clear but edged with a jagged red. They youkai were about to follow Houjou when Kagome's command rang through their being. _"Stop. It is done._" She could feel Juuroumaru resist her power, stare blankly with those fathomless eyes of his. He wasn't done yet. "_It is done. You are done_."

The youkai subsided, kneeling under the sheer pressure of her power. Hiten's eyes widened, surprised that even one such as he could be brought to his knees. Then he recalled his lord's words, how she had forced Inuyasha into submission just from her kotomuke. He was dumbfounded.

Inuyasha, however was tiring of Kagome's commands. He spoke to her silently. _Stop. You have us under your thumb now. Juuroumaru can do nothing more. None of us can. Release us. _His brow furrowed as he became angrier and he practically screamed it into her mind._ Release us._

Kagome gasped and clutched at her head. It pounded as though Inuyasha had rent it open with his fang-like sword. She let go of the hold she had on her kotomuke. That core place in her belly pulsed once. She clutched at it as a charge of what felt like electricity ran through her, then all but disappeared. She breathed deeply for what felt like a moment before Inuyasha swept her up into his arms and leapt out a shattered window. They ran.

* * *

Shihong was calm, meditating quietly on the energy of the Shikon no Tama. He couldn't trace it for some odd reason. He was frustrated but reminded himself to be calm. It wouldn't do to work his sister up into another battle-frenzy again. After all, killing the youkai meant using more of Urasue's strength for the war and he preferred his own strength in battle. He hated these dishonorable tactics but if Mingya wanted an oni shaman, how could he possibly deny her? She was all that he had left. He only wanted to make her happy.

He felt someone unfamiliar come up from behind him. A youkai in a white baboon suit landed before him. It spoke. "You are Guo Shihong, are you not?"

"Who asks after me?"

The baboon-skin waved the answer aside. "It is of no import. Instead, would you not like to know of a certain former miko who possesses a vengeful heart and an embittered soul?"

Shihong was wary yet not so much that he felt any crippling fear. He was, after all, borne of a god. Not many things could kill one such as he. "Why would I like to know woman?" He already had Urasue and one magic-wielder was enough. Using the powers of Urasue did not sit well with him in the beginning anyway. He had only allowed Urasue to join their ranks because Mingya had wanted it so.

"She can eliminate your threats."

Mingya jumped down from nearby treetops. "Well, well, well. Color me intrigued."

* * *

"I can never go back there again! I'm surprised Tokyo didn't just kick me out. Do you _know _how much trouble you've caused? For me?" Kagome was pissed off. Majorly. It was because of the youkai. "What have I said? We need to appear average and without powers. Natural, _not _Preternatural. Luckily for us, Houjou won't press charges but, honestly, I have to wonder that he doesn't. It's weird..." She shook her head and remembered that she was furious with her youkai companions. "Anyways, you _can't_ just beat up people that annoy you, Inuyasha. And Bankotsu! _You're _supposed to be regulating their actions! I thought you were the sane one! And Juuroumaru! You and Bankotsu were living part-time in the human realm...you guys shouldn't have any issues. And Kouga...you could _try _listening to me for once, you know? Just...just _try_. I know it must be hard, _terribly _so, an absolute _task_, but _try_." She threw her hands up. "Why does everything have to suck!"

Inuyasha ignored her (as per usual) and told her to "quit bitching". They had made her get all suited up in her miko robes for a mock-battle. "Sparring Practice" they called it. It looked to the human girl as though the small company was attempting to savage itself. Well, "sparring practice" did not sit well with Kagome. At all. Five times now Inuyasha had nearly killed her. He claimed that it was accidental. "Come on," Inuyasha said, "You said you wanted to practice battling, yes? Then, let's go. I hope you've learned something of archery from your kyuudo club at your acamedy."

"_Academy_." He would never listened to her, ever. She glared death at him.

"Whatever. Let's just do this." He lowered his head and spread his feet a little, bringing out his sword and dropping into a guard stance. His youki pulsed, once, twice, thrice and a wind gathered around him, whirling. Kagome took a breath and instantly felt his energy swarming the area. She formed her hands in the sword mudra and prepared to give Inuyasha a bit of her divine strength.

Inuyasha was completely unprepared for the sheer amount of the little bit of power she had lent him. Winds swirled around him and the feel of Kagome coursed through his essence. He was lost in it for what seemed like forever, lost in the feel of it crawling and working pleasurably through his essence, melding with him in the most intimate of ways: soul to soul. He reveled in the feeling, the sensation, gliding through him.

The winds picked up faster and faster and he whipped out his sword. It clunked down on the ground, bigger than normal, looking more like a fang than ever and began to glow red with power. It looked as though blood swathed the blade and Inuyasha's eyes glowed with crimson. He let out a great cry of ululation and slammed his sword into the ground. The earth shook and upended, and Kagome screamed. Inuyasha heard her instantly and rushed over to her side, picking her up gently, and leaping into nearby trees. She was quaking with terror and clutching at him, repeating his name over and over. He hushed her and she calmed, slowly realizing the extent of their combined strength.

He glanced over the top of her head, at the other youkai, surveying the extent of the damage. Kouga was on the ground, unconscious, and barely missed by what seemed to be a huge rending of claw marks in the earth. Yura was, again, up in the air, Juuroumaru with her. Bankotsu stood atop the house and Hiten was riding a cloud. Sango sat under the protective shade of the god tree.

Kagome stood slowly after Inuyasha set her down on the ground. "Did...?" she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Did...we..." Her knees gave out under her, and she slipped down. "Did...we do...this?" Her house, Souta, Momma, Gramps, the shrine. Inuyasha's arm came around her, lifting her easily, and he smiled, looking at the blueness of her veins under her skin. She glanced at him. His eyes were gleaming with pleasure. "We will never do this again if we are on this sacred ground. In my home...understand?"

Inuyasha waited for a moment before nodding. He would let her have this little show of dominance and freedom just then. Later on, she would be under his orders.

Kagome's mother rushed out of the house, her apron on, hands still powdery from baking. "Oh, my goodness, what a quake. We've never had one of those around here, have we?"

"No, I remember one a while back, Momma." Souta was covering for her, again. "You can go back inside; no one was hurt." Kagome owed him more than she could ever possibly repay. She offered him a tentative smile and his gaze softened towards her. She could see the sadness reflected in both of their eyes. This was going to end soon. Too soon.

She could feel it inside of her, that pulsating sensation. In the center of her being. Burning and chilling her. _What is it? What is it? _She looked at Inuyasha. _Tell me. Please. I need to know._

He grinned. _Then call up your power one more time. Don't send it to me. Keep it gathered and let it course through you_.

Kagome nodded. She closed her eyes. Souta watched while his sister began to glow, swathed in a gentle blue halo. She lifted off the ground. The youkai gripped her in his arms. It laughed triumphantly and Souta wondered if Kagome was doing the right thing. She was going against everything they had been taught. He silently prayed that she stay alive.

* * *

Rin looked up at the statuesque youkai that was holding her hand as they walked through his region. The lands they were traversing was filled with mists, so Sesshoumaru was leading her. She smiled and tugged on him, even though she knew he was immovable but for his own decision, and went at his own pace no matter the circumstance. She knew that they were going somewhere important, especially when the yaoguai threw Musou onto the floor of Sesshoumaru's chamber, a butchered like a piece of meat. There was a message carved into the skin. So she and Sesshoumaru were going together to where the message had demanded. They were meeting with the enemy to try to negotiate peace terms. It was the best they cold do, and Naraku had suggested it, as he knew Sesshoumaru found war troublesome too. Before this, Rin knew, they had had no way of contacting the enemy, well Naraku had a double-agent placed among the yaoguai. Musou the Face-Stealer. They must have discovered his spying and killed him because of it, Sesshoumaru had said at the Conclave.

Rin's guardian tightened his grip on her: she was supposed to stop now. There was someone coming. A figure was slowly revealed. A female, as tall as Sesshoumaru stood smirking, sword in hand, red fiery hair bound and plaited. She grinned at the youkai lord and strode towards him with a confidence that betrayed no fear, no weakness. Sesshoumaru glowered. The female laughed. "So distressed. Oh, my dear puppy, if you keep your face like that it will surely get stuck." She laughed again.

"You must think yourself clever." By this time the two immortals were circling the other one like cats in a cage. They stalked in a winding pattern, closing in, looping out. Rin wasn't sure who would attack first.

"No. I think that a imbecile like you is easy to outwit." Then Mingya leapt. The two's swords met in a clash of lightning and white sparks. Mingya grinned. "Well, it appears that you know how to hold your blade."

Sesshoumaru said nothing. He stepped behind her with a movement too quick for her eyes to follow and plunged the blade in her throat. She choked, wondering how this could be possible. Sesshoumaru merely turned and lifted the sword out of her slowly dying body. He flicked the blood off of it and sheathed it.

"How...?" she gasped, blood bubbling at her lips, the color almost indistinguishable from her hair. "How were you able...?"

The youkai Lord General was already walking away. "My Tenseiga merely killed what should have been long dead. Tell this to your brother: The Shiranora exercise no mercy. We will not stop exterminating you until every last one of you is long gone from our lands. Let this be an example."

Rin rushed up to Sesshoumaru and chattered about picking flowers later. That was the last thing Mingya would ever hear.

* * *

Kagome was screaming again, as the power nearly burst from her. Her body no longer felt corporeal and Inuyasha was now a pillar of silver red and gold. Her skin, blue-glowing, and black hair were alight in rapture. She cried out with euphoria as she opened her gates and welcomed Inuyasha into her psyche. They melded, a tighter connection than any they had ever felt. She knew in the back of her mind that she was still hovering above the ground and that it was all in her head for she felt distantly Inuyasha's arm locking her in a close embrace.

Her fingers tangled in his hair and slowly a piece of each one passed between, an exchange of sorts. Her chest burned and froze an indigo crescent moon to her flesh. She could feel Inuyasha's pain as his canine ears reformed into human appendages, and his jagged tattoos representing the house of Shiranora (on the cheeks on the arms) became violet. She, a miko, was losing her identity as a human; he, an inugami, was losing his identity as one of Shiranora. Now he was only seen as an inugami royal with no discernible ties to any noble House. They were outcasts. Like Yura. Like Hiten, Sango, and Bankotsu. Kagome looked at her partner, for she recognized him as such, and understood that the two of them were lucky indeed to have found one another. To have found someone to depend on, to understand, to comfort, to stay with for eternity in companionship.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome knowing what she realized, he himself seeing the truth in his soul as well.

There was nothing but them, the whole world disappeared, and forever only existed within their eyes. Yet, unlike before, forever did not seem like such a trial. The intimate connection the two possessed was unlike anything ever before. A sharing of hearts, of souls on that scale was new, and entirely untried, an experimental joining. But, Sesshoumaru had again demonstrated superb forethought in the actualization of a contract between those two individuals. Each soul saw that as well, yet it mattered little to them that it was for war. War is a menial thing when faced with the enormity of such an occurrence. Neither fully comprehended the magnitude of their shared emotions; all they knew was that something within them, and without, had changed.

* * *

Shihong held his sister's body in his hands. He grimaced bitterly. He had never wanted this. All he had wanted was a new home where they could live in peace together as a family without being hounded by the Celestial Court. "Look at what they did to you. My beloved Mingya." He wept over her body, swore vengeance. He laid a hand on the corpse's belly, and said, "I will care for Qiyue. I promise." He had no choice but to kill them all now. Kill them all. He had never wanted it to be that way.

Sound of his sorrow echoed throughout the realm as his beloved crumbled away into a golden ash that flew away on the winds, leaving behind a small child.

"Greetings, Father," it said with a grin.

* * *

At the base of a small mountain, a handsome collegian stepped out of a car, swinging a guitar case over his shoulder. He was relatively tall, handsome (he liked to think), and gifted when it came to dealing with the numerous lovely ladies out in the big, big world. He turned his playful violet eyes towards a shrine gate, a torii, which represented the meeting of heaven and earth. A thick forest wall lined both sides of it - all the way up the mountain, he knew. The wood was a dark one...secretive. The trees rustled softly, as if in welcome. An amused welcome.

The man smiled and read the kanji on the sign next to it in a soft voice. "Higurashi..." The monk's staff in his left hand jingled as it sang of the presence of multiple strong youki in the area. He already sensed it though, so he felt no alarm. Besides, his cousin had always been able to take care of herself. He knew he need not worry about her well-being, no matter the company she kept. "How nostalgic." Miroku laughed then, beginning the long climb to the top of the stair. He couldn't wait to see what a beautiful young woman cousin Kagome had become.

"Lord Buddha, I've missed this place."


	7. Chapter 6: A Great Loss

Disclaimer: So, here's what's up - I make no claim to the show, manga or anything associated with _Inuyasha _or owned by Rumiko Takahashi

* * *

"Through others you are somebody." - African proverb

* * *

**Chapter Six:**_ The Vengeance  
_

**Miroku had long been in the care of youkai**. It was just how he had lived. From the time he was twelve to the time he was seventeen he had studied on the sacred Mount Kurama, with the master yamabushi Monk Shinsen. He had long ago learned the martial arts and secrets of concealment and the youkai from Soujoubou, the king of Tengu. Traveled and met and studied in different languages, memorized the ancient laws, the history of the otherworld, Tokoyo. He had been warned by Soujoubou of the quick changes in the world when one is not involved in them, yet Miroku was still adjusting. When he left them to go to college in Kyoto, he was unsettled by how quickly one can become disoriented by the years that one missed as a child. But he learned quickly. He always had.

The young man stilled his heart and sensed the power around him. Combined, it was nothing close to Soujoubou, but it frightened him that the youkai could get past the shrine barriers without suffering extreme agony. Either they were the designated Chien-kami, the territorial gods, or they were too powerful to be affected by Kagome's power. Knowing Kagome though, and the accuracy with which she performed her jumon, this was highly unlikely. Miroku began to trod up the unending steps once more to the torii.

Thus it was that Miroku felt grateful to Soujoubou for the time he had spent with the boy, teaching him, training him in the ways of the yamabushi, yet not making him one of the Shugendou sect. For, without the familiar understanding of the aura of a daiyoukai such as Soujoubou, Miroku would have been bowled over by those in his cousin's presence.

And Miroku always liked to be prepared for anything.

* * *

General Tekkei pointed her sword to the sky, standing alongside Kouga, the second-in-command of the ookami forces that police Tokoyo. Kouga had just returned from the human world, weary and now confident, ordered by Chief Kai to assist the General Tekkei. The ookami had seen the Shikon no Tama's powers with his own eyes. He believed that she could win the war for them. The winds he controlled so well stirred the fur pelts he worse, a soft brown against the hard black and blue of his armor.

Kouga howled and Tekkei screeched, urging the Gokurakuchou and ookami forward in a flurry of feathers and fur. The sky was bleeding red into the dark and the multitudes of youkai screamed for blood. He rushed the front lines, meting the yaoguai head on, a clash of claw and sword, though he knew he wouldn't make it out alive. He slashed and hacked, yet still, there were always more. They kept coming. It never ended. He watched bitterly as his fallen brethren were recruited unwillingly to the enemy lines by Urasue the shaman. She stood on a hilltop far off beating on a drum and burning herbs. Kouga could hear her thin reedy voice carried by the breeze, singing the song that animated their corpses. He vowed to rip out those vocal cords with his claws.

A cry from beside him alerted him to his companion and he rushed to Tekkei's side. What he saw stopped him in his tracks, enraged him. The youkai's visage had been torn by blades, the flesh falling off in bits. Kouga bit out savagely, "Who did this?"

Tekkei's bloodied eyes turned to a small female that was grinning. She brought her sword above her head and sent it down upon the two youkai.

Tekkei's head rolled away and turned to dust, drifting away. Kouga had escaped with just a slash down the length of his back, hindering his movements only slightly. He bared his fangs at the nascent yaoguai goddess and she laughed, managing to sound amused and mirthless at the same time. "You're a fast one, little wolf. However, I am indeed _quite _joyous that I can inform you – I am _so_ much faster."

* * *

Kagome laid her head against Inuyasha's chest, listening to the pulse of his life. She sighed, content to remain in his strong embrace, enfolded in the arms of the one who now knew her best. The power they shared, the unity that entailed...was awe-inspiring for them. The knowledge of their connection was still shuddering through her and she smiled softly, thinking of all the days it would be like that, full of contentment and wonder.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha murmured. His hand tightened on hers as the glow within them receded. They needed time to adjust, he knew, but there was none. Another week and his brother would call for them. Call them to battle._ Are we ready? Can we become a unit? A force?_ Inuyasha ran his fingers through Kagome's hair. He had no idea what to make of these new feelings. Frankly it alarmed him, and he never liked alarm. Youkai were never supposed to feel at all like that. Even Sesshoumaru had not caved under the constant presence of Rin's overwhelmingly cute humanity. But he.... Inuyasha thought back to when he was a mere whelp. Perhaps he had softened because of that human woman Izayoi.... _No. I mustn't think of her. I cannot afford to be distracted by those memories._

His head snapped up, his keen nose picking up a familiar yet unknown scent. Something mixed with what made parts of Kagome's scent and something that belonged to tengu. _Is she in danger?_ He shook her shoulder, "Kagome. Someone comes."

The other youkai had gathered around them by then, forming a natural guard. Bankotsu grinned at Kagome and raised his enormous halberd, "Don't worry, little lady. You're one of ours now. It's only natural that we remain loyal to one of our companions." The others nodded their assent. Juuroumaru's eyes crinkled, an indication that either he was smiling at her or opening his mouth for want of a meal.

Kagome felt reassured, when she knew she shouldn't be. She felt that, indeed Bankotsu spoke true. She was one of them now. She was unsure of how she felt about _that_ though. Her senses were sharper, though nowhere near as honed as Inuyasha's or any of the others there.

There were so many forest sounds that she actually had to focus for a couple of minutes in order to identify and understand what she was hearing. It amazed her. She was unused to having to do so in order to hear correctly. Kagome concentrated harder and before long, discerned what the youkai were listening to. She heard the faint jangling or metal rings, the clang of a hard surface striking against stone. Soft footfalls, betraying the confidence and benevolence of the walker, as well as the care taken with each step. Judging by the way he placed his feet and how much weight he allowed for each one...he was tall, light and most of his body mass consisted of bone and muscle. _If I had known how to tell all of these things just by listening _before_ I met Inuyasha I'm sure wouldn't've failed my human anatomy classes. _She felt that this "walk" was familiar and not threatening...she gasped, delighted. _He said he wouldn't be here until a week later._

"Cousin Miroku!" Kagome shouted joyfully. She was smiling so hard she felt like her cheeks were cracking. She pushed past the youkai and rushed into Miroku's outstretched arms. He spun her around and she laughed. _I can't believe he's really back!_ She breathed in his comforting scent of incense and brass. "Geez, you're so tall!"

He laughed. "Yes, I am. Lord Buddha, it's been so long.

_ Kagome, who is this human boy?_ Her inugami immediately went on the defensive. He could not allow this foreign human to handle something so precious, so invaluable so carelessly.

_ My cousin. The illegitimate child of my estranged uncle Miyatsu with a tainted miko. He will help us...help me...to train for the upcoming battle._

Inuyasha met her gaze with a level stare. _You have accepted your fate, Kagome? Truly?_

She nodded ever so slightly. _I have. I know what must be done and what I am now. Nothing he says will change that._

"You've grown into a gorgeous young woman, cousin. I always knew you would." Miroku suddenly turned somber, noticing the dark expressions on Kagome and her companions' faces. "These youkai. These are your comrades? Your friends?" He set her down on the ground. "I have much to discuss with you."

Kagome nodded nervously and led Miroku by the hand into the house. "Mom! Cousin Miroku's back! We're all going out to lunch to commemorate his return. Juuroumaru, Bankotsu and Sango are joining us. Is that okay?"

Her mother's voice drifted from the den. "Of course it is, Kagome! Just make sure you're back before dark!"

Kagome shot Inuyasha a look before nodding. _Time to tell him everything.

* * *

_

Shiranora no Sesshoumaru stepped into the clearing deep in his brother's territory (labeled as neutral ground now that Inuyasha had left Tokoyo) and all eyes turned to him, as always. Inwardly he winced just the tiniest bit. Outwardly, he remained as stoic and composed. Rin was chattering, despite the intense pretense of disgust and awe that the others in the area made a show of putting up in a facade. Sesshoumaru gently told Rin to be quiet. She did so, for about two minutes. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes in fatigue. The rumors were already spreading. He despised the pettiness of the court that sometimes bubbled up and burst.

An inugami noble had called the council together once again: The Lady of Shinmei, Sesshoumaru's mother. The Gather was needed. The court was in complete upheaval over hat the Ruler of Saigoku had done to their enemy. Some thought that his actions would help war escalate into absolute genocide. Others wondered whether Sesshoumaru had not already half won the war for them. Some thought that it was a mistake to let Sesshoumaru command the armies, as his father had before them. The Autumnal Grove of in the Forest of InuYasha, the expansive region held in check by his brother, was the meeting place. The lords convened, loosely in a circle, all equal in the decisions they made, none one place above another. Here, servants were allowed to speak freely.

Lord Kai and his personal guard of peacekeepers were stationed around the clearing, the autonomous and rather large family of many tribes, the only enforcers of the law that Shippou had set. Kai himself stood at Shippou's side, guarding against any youkai that might not "agree" with Shippou's decrees. Sometimes such a thing occurred with the Judgment, and did so quite often with Shippou holding the current position for the past one thousand or so years.

Shippou sat, tranquil, on a bed of mosses surrounded by a ring of mushrooms under the shade of a willow tree. He crossed his legs as he surveyed the other lords' auras surreptitiously. They were fluctuating wildly, signalling great agitation and unrest. Well, he would fix that soon enough.

Here, Shippou was the judge, the law of the lands of Tokoyo, and here, in this matter, he was of great significance. His decision would affect the fate and existence of Sesshoumaru, and ultimately, the destiny of Tokoyo. Would the Commander be penalized for his action and Naraku with him? Rewarded for his choice to take action when none else would? Or reprimanded for letting his temper have an effect on the choices he made? What if Shippou did nothing in regards to this dispute at all? Let things work out on their own? Often this was the best course of action. Though, the youkai would wish for more, if they were in the mood for blood. What to do?

As the last of those that were summoned piled in and seated themselves Lady Shinmei called out, "Let the Proceedings begin." She turned to her son, Sesshoumaru, and the little girl at his side that was clutching his hand. "Sesshoumaru," she began, her eyes glittering. Clearly, she thought this all amusing. "Lord of Saigoku, inheritor of the Tenseiga, potential Commander of the youkai multitude in wartime, what say you of your actions?"

Sesshoumaru blinked once and looked to the sky. "I make no comment on my actions. What has been done is done. Nothing that any youkai says or _tries_ to do to me will change this fact." Here, his eyes narrowed on Taigokumaru, the one who had called for the Gather in suspicion of his true motives and questioning his intelligence. Taigokumaru shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

Sesshoumaru glared and addressed the lords. "I received a message from the Goddess Warrior expressing a desire to meet with me to discuss the matters of the war. Naraku was with me at the time and suggested attempting to negotiate at peace."

There was quite a bit of muttering at this statement. This had surprised them. Sesshoumaru, the Killing Perfection, he who was the embodiment of poison in nature's beauty, negotiating for peace? Treaties? It was unheard of for one of Clan Shiranora to do so.

Sesshoumaru let hatred fill his gaze to the brim and overflow. "The message arrived upon my den in the form of Naraku's nephew's remains. Musou the Face-Stealer. He was ravaged. He had been infiltrating the ranks and army of the foreigners by putting on the guise of a traitor, feeding them menial information on us. Information our adversaries could have discovered merely by looking at our forces. He was becoming our key informant regarding their movements. The leaders either discovered his true purpose or merely grew weary of him. In any case, he is no more, and now we are just as blind as they. When I alighted, coming to the designated location specified by one of the twins, I was baited then attacked. I chose to kill her."

Abi-hime performed what less beautiful and refined ladies of the court would call a "snort". She smirked and would have made remark upon Sesshoumaru's judgement and rash decisions, something which he had admonished her about not too long ago. The expression that Shippou wore kept her from doing so.

Shippou glanced again at the lords of the court. "Do any youkai desire to bring his actions up for debate? I will hear your arguments."

Naraku was smiling softly, looking much like a dangerous animal sentient enough to plan murder. Silky and lithe, all deception and cruelty. Nightshade. Abi-hime kept her own council, unwilling to speak now, if she was going to before. Kai stood behind Sesshoumaru and Naraku in their decisions, and Ryuukotsusei seemed to be satisfied with the outcome. How easily they could be swayed with a few choice words. Sesshoumaru despised the vapid mindset of the court, but was glad in support from his allies and were the youkai that mattered, that held influence over the others.

Only Taigokumaru remained discomfited. "With all respect, Lord Sesshoumaru- your foolishness could very well be the end of us all."

Naraku lifted an eyebrow, amused. "How so? If Sesshoumaru had not defended himself he would not be here before us now, and the foreigners would undoubtedly have claimed another victory from us. They would have held footing in our realm, something that we cannot allow." The others behind Naraku nodded. Already, support for Sesshoumaru was growing.

A new and younger voice joined the discussion. "I think it a wise choice." It was Hakudoushi, son of Naraku, who had spoken, appearing no older than a boy of five years. He held his naginata over his lap, his personal attendant and guard Mouryoumaru kneeling at his side. He had coloring similar to Kanna, his elder sister, but marginally greater presence. Power practically radiated off of him.

Hakudoushi was Naraku's favored son, on the rise in terms of power and influence. He was merely an immortal human gifted with power, like Naraku, like the Kugutsu family line, and this boy had all the abilities of a strong psychic. Flying without wings, moving objects merely by mental will, bending space and time to transport himself anywhere and any-when he pleased, capable of creating a barrier through the energy he possessed, mind-speaking with his siblings.... The young lord was a force to be reckoned with. He held influence with the younger generation of youkai, under his ruling and not.

"_I _feel that Sesshoumaru cut the army's legs out from underneath," Hakudoushi declared, smiling eerily in an echo of Naraku's distinctive expression. "It is through diminishing the will for battle in the soldier that one gains an advantage over his adversary. Sesshoumaru has done so by easily killing one of their beloved leaders. This so-called war is already more than half won. With the strength of the Shikon no Tama, the particular talents of my brethren, the Shiranora gift of battle, and the four soldiers of my father's house, we are indeed at the head." Hakudoushi shook his head as though bored. "I see no reason for the Gather when all we must do is advance and kill."

"Do not decide the outcome just yet, my son. We have much yet to do." Naraku laughed his bemusement. "There are the peacemakers and the tengu to consider. The yamabushi as well."

Rin spoke then, surprising every being in the surrounding area. "Before Musou died, he whispered something to me. He said that it would change everything."

Sesshoumaru turned to Rin, his flinty eyes sharp as a whetted blade. "Why did you not inform me of this, Rin?"

She returned his look with a fierce one of her own. "I knew I had to wait until every lord was around so you could decide what to do about what I'm going to tell you." Sesshoumaru spared her a glance, revealing the slightest amount of shock. "I do have some sense, Sesshoumaru." He gaped. Usually, all Rin spouted were senseless rambling sentences about flowers and such. Intelligence of this caliber she had never displayed before. "Musou told me..."

* * *

They sat in the park watching clouds go by overhead, the day bright and optimistic. There was a family nearby, playing with it's dog on a picnic and Kagome tried to ignore their happy shouts. Miroku sat, legs crossed, directly opposite of her, while Sango and Inuyasha positioned themselves on either side of her. Bankotsu was just laying back, chewing on a long stem, and Juuroumaru was off dawdling somewhere.

Miroku decided to be the one to break the ice. "So where do you want to begin?" There was a distinctly awkward pause. "You are not really married to that youkai beside you, are you, Kagome?" he asked her gently. Kagome shook her head as her eyes teared up. She would not want Miroku to think less of her. He took her hand and smiled, "You had promised me you would marry me first when we were children, do you remember that?" He gathered her into a hug.

Kagome nodded, choking up and laughing through her tears at his feeble joke. She remembered. When they were little children, they used to play house together; Miroku was the Daddy, Kagome the Mommy and Souta had been the baby. It had all been fun and games. Until their powers had begun to show themselves. Then youkai kept appearing and interfering. "What happened to you Miroku? I haven't seen you in years and now, suddenly, you pop in out of nowhere?" Over the years they had regained contact with each other and kept in touch through emails, letters, phone calls, dreams....

"Yes...well..." Miroku slowly explained what had happened all those years ago. "Do you remember what happened when I was taken away? I had just been a little boy then but I remember so clearly..."

They had been playing by the koi pond and monks came in and dragged Miroku away. Miko held Kagome back as she struggled to get to him. It was speculated by the clan elders that the two children's powers might rebound off of and magnify the other one's. A seer in the family had seen the future, much like Souta could. That possible future showed that Miroku had deviated from the eightfold path, Kagome was lost to humanity, and only one would carry on the bloodline for the main branch of the Higurashi. They feared this happening, which it would, if Kagome and Miroku ever met again. The elders had Miroku taken away by a mountain hermit named Mushin for training and instructed by a Tengu elder in the art of warfare. Kagome, on the other hand, was kept far from him, safe in warded, sacred grounds at the head shrine. There, she was ordered to eventually choose a husband and groomed to become the Higurashi bloodline's heir.

Neither child had understood why things the way they were the day Miroku had been taken away. It was only later that Kagome and Miroku fully comprehended the enormity of both of their powers, and that they were a danger to each other.

"I'm sorry Miroku. This...what Inuyasha and I have...is so much stronger than any marriage." She didn't say what she wanted to say. _Sorry that you came home to find that your cousin gave herself to the very beasts you despised for killing your family. Sorry that someone you loved had changed so much that she was now so unfamiliar that she didn't even recognize herself. Sorry that this reunion couldn't be happy or even normal. Sorry that our family is cursed._ "I'm sorry. So sorry." Inuyasha thoughtfully looked away from the spectacle, aware that this was a private moment and that he shouldn't intrude upon it.

_ Thank you, Inuyasha._

A wave of warmth from Kagome's heart swamped him and spread through Inuyasha's limbs. The young youkai snorted, attempting fruitlessly to cover his bashfulness and embarrassment over the girl's gratitude, though he knew that Kagome could feel his emotions as though they were her own. _Be quiet._

Miroku drew back from Kagome and winked, "Seems like I haven't exorcised enough of them. One slipped past me to get to my beloved cousin. But Kagome, I want you to tell me what's really going on. You haven't been completely honest with me, have you?"

Kagome shook her head. She looked equal parts miserable, relieved, chastised, and shyly happy all at once. "I...have an eternal bond with Inuyasha," she indicated her inugami, "something that allows us to share power and everything else so that we can become more powerful as one...." She trailed off unsure whether to tell Miroku of her deal with Sesshoumaru.

She looked to the youkai for confirmation and Bankotsu sat up, leaning on his left arm. He nodded once saying, "It's better if you do."

Kagome took both of Miroku's hands in hers. "Miroku...there is a war going on..."

Miroku nodded. "There are many wars in many countries. Such is the way of the world. Why did you bring that up? You haven't tried to become a dog of the military, have you?"

_How do I tell him? What do I say? _Kagome's lip trembled and Inuyasha rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. Miroku saw this and took note of the significance of the action. He saw that the female youkai sitting beside his cousin had had her eyes trained on him the entire time, obviously suspicious of his intentions. He returned her gaze, putting a little bit of intensity into it, and making heat rise to her cheeks in a modest blush. He smiled inwardly. He liked that he could still melt any girl's heart, if only for the briefest of seconds. College had certainly honed his knack for it.

"No," Kagome began tremulously, "I have been enlisted for service in the fighting forces of the youkai. Foreign beings are invading our lands."

Juuroumaru had come back, licking the sprinkles off of a vanilla ice-cream he had bought. "We would have you join us as well."

"The more the merrier, is that it?"

Kagome seemed wounded. "Miroku...you know it isn't like that. You know I don't see you as expendable or just another man in the ranks...but even if one more person can aid us in our cause.... It can make all the difference, you see?"

Miroku tilted his head to the side. "And if I decide that what you want and what I want will have nothing in common...if I decide to have nothing to do with you, what then?"

Sango's knife was at his throat. She was behind him, breathing the words, "Then you either die in our battle or die for our cause; it makes no difference either way," into his ear. He had not felt her move. But he was not alarmed in the slightest. He smiled and spoke a single verse: "On, noumaku sanmanda basaradan kan.... 'Unity', I pray...the radiance of thy divine grace shall pierce the heavens high...."

Sango yelped and clutched her forehead, jumping back and hissing like a wet house cat. Miroku smiled slightly again. "I would advise against attacking me. I have, in my memory, the Amitabha Sutra, the Prajnaparamita Sutras, the Avataṃsaka Sutra...In short, I can easily defend myself quite well against your assaults."

Sango spat on the ground before her savagely, muttering, "Bastard." Kagome glanced at her with surprise. She had not known Sango to be so vicious.

Miroku looked on with a quiet amusement, smiling slightly. "My answer would have been yes...even without your 'convincing argument', beautiful lady, as the wisdom in conquering these unnatural things is apparent." He stared at Sango with a strange expression on his face.

"Miroku, you would really help me?" His cousin was overjoyed. She knew, always did, that she could rely on her cousin. If ever there was a time where she was in trouble Miroku always backed her in whatever happened. When he wasn't off on one of his many liaisons or his school romances. "This means—ah!"

The ground opened beneath her and arms reached up to drag her down.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed the first name that came to mind, a name belonging to the one she knew would do everything in his power to protect her. Her hand was frantically grasping for him. He nearly reached her, arms outstretched, but he was too late and she slipped through his claws. The beings stared as one at the place where the miko had been.

"No..." Inuyasha's voice sounded hollow. "Kagome..." His partner was gone.

All hope was lost.

* * *

"Are you certain this is true, Rin?"

Sesshoumaru's expression was chilling just then, but Rin paid no mind to it. She nodded to her lord. "I heard it. She wishes to revenge herself on Inuyasha. And all that is dear to him."

Naraku grimaced his displeasure. Only his eyes, like the roiling depths of hell, revealed his dark fury. "Then, Little Kagome is in danger, and worse evils than those of Tokoyo lurk in the human realm. They will be seeking her soon."

Shippou bowed his head. Things were not going well. But it was the est they could manage. The youkai had to know that they would be victorious. They would not fight, else. "If she has not already met those dangers." He stood. It came time to finish the Gather. "And so it is agreed that Shiranora no Sesshoumaru will not be penalized for his actions, and thus take action immediately due to the discoveries that have been made to us?"

The lords and soldiers spoke in unison. "Agreed."

Shippou smiled and nodded. "Now, on the matter of the Commander, the one who will lead us in wartime. The time has come to formally decide: Who shall it be?"

Abi-hime snorted primly, if such an act was possible. "Lord Sesshoumaru, of course."

Shippou acknowledged the motion and inquired, "Are there no others that challenge Lady Abi-hime's suggestion?"

There were none. After all, who could contest the greatness of Sesshoumaru, first son of the late Inu no Taishou? Sesshoumaru, who resembled his father in most every way?

Shippou nodded once more. "Then it is done." He sat back down, glad to be done with the foolish accusations of Taigokumaru. He waved the cold Lady Shinmei forward and she announced, "Appoint your officials as you see fit, Lord General Sesshoumaru. We will await your instructions."

The Lords dispersed.

"_Kagome!_" Inuyasha howled, clawing at the ground in desperation. People were beginning to stare and gather around them. Miroku saw this and dispelled their curiosity with a prayer for remaining hidden and illusion. Thank the gods for foresight. Thank the Buddha for holy incantations. He sighed, taking Inuyasha's shoulder with a firm hand. "Calm yourself, inugami."

Inuyasha whipped his head around and shoved the young monk. "One of _your_ family has just been captured by our _enemy_; I can still smell the putrid stench of the dead. The dead, bouzu. She has gone to the land of the dead. And you stand there, preaching to me about..." his expression tightened, his luminescent eyes inexplicably dark with rage. "If ever there was a time when I despised humans, it was nothing compared to the contempt I know right now."

Bankotsu grabbed his arm and yanked him back saying, "Nothing you can do about it right now. Just be patient—!"

Inuyasha tore his arm out of his compatriot's grip, mentally pulling on the connection he shared with Kagome. He felt a give on the other end, and his strength increased. He heard Kagome crying out to him....

_ Inuyasha_.

She was frightened, defenseless practically. Just a human. "_No_." He unsheathed his saber, Tessaiga and howled out the cry that awakened his blade. "Rend the wind's scar! Now, Tessaiga!" The world stilled for many moments becoming red all around those involved with the youkai. Inuyasha plunged his saber into the earth and the surface cracked, gaping like a wide, voracious maw.

Miroku stood near the opening and gave Inuyasha a measured, calculating look. The air had stirred greatly, the winds restless now and violent. Inuyasha's eyes glowed dangerously, "Do not even entertain the thought of following lest you aid me." He jumped into the hole he made with the desperation of a man clinging to his final strand of hope.

Miroku sighed knowing he was left with no choice. The youkai were so clever about manipulating others' destinies to suit their needs. He, for the second time in his life, felt the exact same helpless frustration that Kagome experienced day to day. He looked at the others expectantly. "Are you coming as well?"

Bankotsu grinned and dived headfirst. Miroku laughed, his heart aching for reasons he did not understand, following his young cousin with the others close behind.

* * *

Higurashi Akari dropped her teacup. Her children, the little ones she knew so well, wherever they went...she couldn't sense their bond to her anymore. All she knew was that they went down, down, deep inside the ground. And it terrified her. Her lips trembled.

Her father turned to her, wondering. "Whatever is the matter, Akari?"

Akari put a shaking hand to her heart, "My babies. My children. They're gone from this world. I can't feel them anymore."

She wept.

* * *

Inuyasha fell for a long time, his robes whipping about him, the others soundless behind. The place all about him was dark and muted his senses but he could think about that just then. He had to find Kagome. _I'm coming for you. Wait for me._

Miroku steadied Sango as she fell into the darkness. She wrenched her arms away from him, blushing slightly. It had been a long time since a human man had touched her, laid a hand on her at all. She was unsure of how this one made her feel.

"Do not touch me, human," she snapped, her eyes glinting in the darkness like a cat's. Miroku smiled easily and did as he was asked. He procured his shakujou from his person and set it before him.

"With my Kazaana," he began, "I can locate any one of my blood. Will you accept help from me, Lord Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha stared for a moment, looked defeated. Miroku marveled at how easily the heart of a man could weaken in the face of such disillusionment. Then he remembered, as Inuyasha recovered and nodded with steel in his eyes, that this Inuyasha was no man. He was youkai.

Kagome felt a dizzying amount of emptiness, cut off from herself, as though a piece of her was missing. Her heart was closed and cold. She cried out, hearing only the echo of her own sorrow coming back to mock her. Alone. She was completely alone. Mentally she searched for that missing piece, that part torn away from her so abruptly. Her head bowed, hands clenched tightly against her chest. She rocked back and forth, desperately trying to recall or maybe identify what it was..._Inuyasha._

Her head snapped up. She tried calling to him._ Inuyasha. Where are you, Inuyasha? ...Answer me!_ Silence, complete and overwhelming, blanketing her conscious with a stillness that belonged to winter, was all that met her internal screams. That tight bond they had formed, that secure and fulfilling connection, had been severed. Another cry loosed itself from her throat. _Inuyasha!_

No one would answer her. Since she had experienced a true joining, the solitude nearly crushed her spirit. However, Kagome was stronger than that now, and steeled herself against the despair. With great care, she felt around where she sat, kneeling. It was cold, like so many other things she had encountered lately. Hard, and lichen and mosses brushed, so gently, the tips of her fingers. Fresh and sharp was the air that filled her lungs and all about her the sounds of rushing waters reverberated imperiously. She could not see. She was inside of the earth. Underground.

_Oh, god...okay think. If I got down here...then there has to be a way up from this place, right? _So she rose, hesitantly, thinking that the ceiling of the might be low. She didn't want to hit her head on it. She reached up, feeling nothing but air, so she took a wary step forward, then another, until she bumped into a warm surface, smooth and hard in some places, yet heated and yielding in others. She pressed on it and nearly jumped out of her skin when a disembodied voice said, "What are you doing, Miss Higurashi?"

On instinct, Kagome reached out and (incredibly) hit who it was that spoke. "How dare you address me so familiarly. Who are you? Where am I? What do you intend to do?" She was getting angrier by the second. _Dammit, I'm so tired of being jerked around. It's my life. I should be able to choose what to do with it._

"Peace, young girl. We mean you no harm. Not right now."

Kagome gave a start. The second voice was female, cultured, but it sounded of grave dirt and bitterness. She was just behind the young miko. Kagome focused on her newly acquired gifts, numerous in fact, and brought her youkai power to her eyes, making them in the likeness of a cat's eyes. She slowly turned around and saw – much to her surprise – herself.

* * *

Sesshoumaru stood in a room looking down at an illusion of the lands Tokoyo, shifting always, as the regions were wont to do. The expansive "map" before him and a few others he had called to join him rose up in a miniature replica of his domain. Shippou, the Judgement of Tokoyo, Suijin of the Waters, Naraku the Phantom Lord, Shiori the Palace Guardian, and Hakudoushi the Prince.

Naraku folded his arms, appearing pensive. He was appointed chief of information, running the underground of Tokoyo quite nicely. His children, each specializing in an area of intrigue were gathered with him. He was by far one of the most powerful youkai Sesshoumaru had ever come to know or acquaint himself with. That was high regard coming from the Commander, especially since Naraku had been human once, and was not long a Lord. He possessed the ability to bring anything into being, to withstand divinity. His power could not be overlooked. He was the polar opposite of Sesshoumaru, who could annihilate with a merely flick of his finger. Such two contradictions: Sesshoumaru of the night and moonlight, pale destruction; Naraku of the day's shadows and the human heart's fickle duplicity, dark creation.

Sesshoumaru addressed them, his hair glinting under the moon's light shining through the window. "We will discuss the battle tactics. Our army will be divided into legions of three hundred youkai each. Five hundred and fifty cavalry within each legion in battle. Am I clear in this?"

The company nodded. Sesshoumaru continued, "Hakudoushi. You are in charge of the cavalry. When charging you will lead the vanguard straight into battle. Light infantry will flank you on either side. Behind you will be the main body of the army. This will be lead by various generals within the Shiranora clan.

"Now," he pointed above the illusion projected before them into the miniature clouds, "in the air, I shall be directing the battle formations and fighting Shihong directly. I expect he will desire revenge for the murder of his brethren and thus make straight for me. Naraku. You shall fight alongside me with Kagura, the both of you flanking me and directing both aerial legions. Hiten will fight above the waters covering his sister from above. Suijin. You shall command the the navy in the sea."

Suijin nodded, asking, "And what of those that cannot participate? What of them?"

"Lord Kai. He will remain with your Peacemaker tribes on the ground protecting the defenseless youkai. Abi-hime will aid him. Taigokumaru. Your kin, those who have inherited the Shield will guard the gates and each Warrior of Naraku's Seven will protect them. I want Shiori placed at the main gate. We must _not_ let the yaoguai pass into the human realm. It is our place. Our land."

* * *

Kagome shook her head, in absolute disbelief. _This can't be real. Even after everything that's happened, I can't accept this...it's too..._. "No, it's not..."

The woman stepped forward and Kagome's powerfully enhanced eyes could easily perceive the cold expression on that mirror-face. "Impossible? No. Improbable? Highly. But entirely real." She was so cold, Kagome could feel the chill of death and ages of hatred worm it's way into her own heart. _Why?_ She could not understand. The woman hated everything about her in every possible way. "Listen to me and listen well, spawn of Naraku. I am the shade of the one who came before you. A miko who happened upon an inugami, who was mistaken for the Shikon no Tama, who was dragged into this hideous search for immense power for hundreds of years. You cannot comprehend my suffering. Tell that precious inugami of yours that Kikyou will be his end." She began to retreat into the shadows.

Wait!" Kagome reached for her but the dead thing was almost gone, and Kagome felt terrified once again. _What is this thing? A zombie?_

"It's interesting, discovering that my replacement is actually of my blood. Interesting to know that the blood grew more potent with each generation."

The male voice spoke now. "I would discuss something with you, Lady Higurashi, if you permit my doing so." His hand was already around her bicep, leading her towards the door.

Kagome twisted out of his grasp, "No." She backed away from him, eager to escape to Inuyasha. She could hear her shikigami calling into her mind, faintly. _Kagome. Kagome, _Inuyasha said. _Wait for me. _"No." He was close, she could feel him and his overwhelming presence. Comforting and safe. The sunshine and the damp shade...running through the forests...the clean scent of grass. All of these things came to mind as he drew nearer to her. "_Inuyasha!_"


	8. Chapter 7: Deicide

Disclaimer: I do no make claim to any of these characters nor do I make claim to the manga they come from.

Author's Notice: Kagome doesn't turn into a youkai. _Ever. At **all**_. **Never **in my stories will she turn into a youkai or a hanyou.

* * *

"We don't always get to choose what we love." - Scott Westerfield, _The Last Days_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**: _Deicide  
_

**Stalagmites were spiraling down to spear the unwary**, meeting their sibling stalactites, forming rows of jagged teeth that gaped wide like the jaws of Hell. The darkness that surrounded the small company was palpable in the eternal night of the other world. That place was merely one entrance, one gateway, to a realm that seemed to have many. Silence abounded as the group observed their unofficial leader, waited, while Inuyasha knelt down on the cavern floor, sniffing the area like a bloodhound. The rough locks of his fluid hair made a slight rustling noise as he moved about.

Miroku wondered if the inugami's hair could slice flesh – it was not an uncommon trait in youkai to have anything and everything become a weapon: that included body parts. He briefly revisited his memories of training with King Soujoubou. It involved lots of talons, claws and steel crow-feathers. And dodging said steel crow-feathers. Miroku shook his head. He had to focus on his cousin's energy signature.

Inuyasha jumped up and turned to the others. His unnatural eyes glowed phosphorescent, illuminating the dark, his voice grated against the human man's ears. "Juuroumaru. Go forward and scout the perimeters into the depths of and around this cavern. We need to know if there are hidden soldiers around the area."

Juuroumaru nodded, slipping away into the darkness for a few moments. He reappeared, unruffled and unflappable as always. "The path is clear. We will encounter no one."

His words were disregarded by a frantic inugami. "She was here. I can smell it." Inuyasha's mind was racing. He needed to find her. It was absolutely imperative to their cause and their victory. Without her, half of himself was missing. He could feel it. The absence where her presence should have been.

"As I feel traces of her aura." The monk murmured, "I shall attempt to follow her spiritual 'scent', so to speak, through divine jumon. Is that alright?" He was asking because jumon was one of the basic protective kotodama studies that even those not of the priesthood practiced: it was prayer. Prayer that the youkai, filled with malice and unholy intentions, reviled.

Inuyasha nodded. He would accept it. Kagome, after all, had uttered her jumon so frequently that he swiftly became accustomed to the sting of the divine. "Be quick about your incantations monk. The girl could be moving further from us as we speak."

Miroku solemnly sighed. He cleared his mind of all concerns and doubt and let himself be filled with the energy of the universe, the oneness of the divine. "_Om._.." He set his shakujou into the ground and murmured an incantation, the metal rings moving in a rhythmic pattern to the cadence of his voice. His prayer beads glowed with holy light. "_O Most Gracious Gods in the heavens and on the earth, I pray thee, lend me thy sight, thy power, thy strength, for I must reclaim ours, that hath been lost to me..._" The rings moved in a more frenzied motion, each resounding clang of metal striking against metal sending a spiritual wavelength through the ground. As he finished the incantation, he raised his free hand towards the darkest part of the cavern. "She is going this way now. If we do not hurry, we will not be able to ever find her again. Not unless her captor chooses to release her."

Bankotsu snorted, "That's as likely as Juuroumaru here turning into a kitten."

Sango nodded her agreement. She set her mouth in a thin line. She was hating what she was about to do. "Lord Monk." Miroku stared at her, amazed that she addressed him at all since he repelled her with the Heavenly Sutra. "When I am down, climb onto my back and ride me."

He colored a dark red. "P-Pardon?" Such a thing to say...he went momentarily to a place in his brain that females do not often dare go, as most men will. But, then he saw her shift. He had only heard about youkai shifting but had never seen it.

Sango was hunching over, her back bowing, her arms elongating, her mouth snarling and feral as a saber tooth tiger. Flames erupted from her maw and under her fingernails. A roar, low and heavy, reverberated through the cavern floor, crawled up the human's chest. Her flesh furred, her teeth lengthened, and her limbs cracked and reformed. Standing before the youkai group was a giant two-tailed cat: a nekomata. Flames licked its claws, its eyes were glowed like the magma of an active volcano. Gone were her pink lips, intelligent eyes and lithe body. A predator stood where Sango once was.

Another growl rumbled from it's chest and Miroku nodded at it. He tied his shakujou to his back as one would a saber, lifting himself on top of the nekomata. He looked regretfully at Sango. She had been such a beautiful creature. Not that she was any less beautiful but.... He was almost sorry for the change in her appearance. However, it was necessary. He needed to find his cousin. They all needed her.

The youkai hunkered down, Inuyasha seeming to strain at an invisible collar. Juuroumaru gave no indication that he had any opinion on this situation at all. Bankotsu strapped his halberd onto his back and smirked. "Let's do this."

They were gone.

* * *

Kagome looked around after finally stopping. Strangely enough, she was not out of breath from running for what seemed like forever. (Everything seemed to be forever to her, it felt like.) Her ebony hair hung about her, plastered to her face and back, dampened heavily from the moisture that hovered in the air. There were mists and fog everywhere and she somehow glowed in this strange burning air. It seemed to be trying to choke her each time she inhaled. She remember the dream she had had for months, about the choking air and the land seeping with blood. She was almost there, it seemed.

She could have wept then, if the memory did not seem to have happened so long ago. The pain brought from the upheaval of the recollection was washed away by tides of rage. _How dare this immortal take me?_

The man spoke. "This desolate land will be ours. Nothing can change this. You know we never wanted such tragedy." His eyes were tired and sad. Hate-filled and vengeful.

Kagome turned to the towering warrior, knew instantly his name. He of the scarlet hair, the golden skin, the noble features. He who was beloved of all and had fallen from grace. "Guo Shihong." She had foreseen him in a vision.

The warrior nodded. Yes, that was he.

Kagome set her jaw. "I _do _know. But...your sister began this. She started _everything_. Your fairy tale could have ended happily. You could have been a hero from long ago. You could have..." she trailed off, frustration overwhelming her ability to convey her feelings. "But, no, you did nothing. Instead, she broke the rules, she loved you, and now your child is running all over the place _killing the things I love!_ _You could have ended it long ago. _Why didn't you? Do you _know _what pain I had to go through just to get here? In this place, right now? What I had to _do_? What an _entire nation is suffering?_" Her voice began to hit a low note, and she found that she was grounding out the last few words as though they were mulch chips. Her face had twisted bitterly. She kept remembering._ My family...is gone from me forever. I can never...I will never again be able to...._ Tears leaked out of her eyes. She remained silent.

_No more weakness. No more crying._

The miko's back straightened, her expression hardened. She was done with trying to talk. She decided to do things the old-fashioned way. She raised her arms to the sky and began to call on the fresh and new light of sunrise. "_Great dawn, radiance of the breaking day, I invoke thee. Thy daughter's will be strength and purpose. Bestow unto me thy gifts..._"

And Kagome began to glow gently blue once again. The crescent moon mark that appeared over her heart, the sign of the inugami, flashed. She hurled a bit of her spiritual power at the god but he merely caught it and dispersed the energy. "I would remind you," he said softly, "that I am a god."

The young miko snarled, utterly reminiscent of Inuyasha, the youkai that tainted her, "_Even gods can be killed._" She had the strangest urge to gouge his eyes out with her massive nails, to cut out his heart and crush it in her hands. Her fingers started twitching in response to her barbarous instincts.... but then she realized that those instincts were not hers. They came through her connection to Inuyasha. The thought scared her for a moment. _Our bond must be growing tighter by the second...._ She felt her inugami in her essence, becoming tightly woven within her.

So, she called upon the last vestiges of strength from the growing ties with the youkai. Her fingernails lengthened and the Shiranora-Moon mark on her chest grew darker, blackened. Her irises became sere-flecked grey rimmed in charcoal, flashing like the lightning in a stormy sky, her features rearranging, perfecting, enhancing whatever beauty she had and making it more prominent. The knowledge that her eyes would not revert to her normal brown after this slight transfiguration came to her from within. Sharp silver, like a knife's blade plunging through flesh, began to cut into her blue and white aura, melding with the divine purity, turning some of the blue the color of smoke. Poisonous and bitter. Like Naraku. It hurt her, but like the time before it, she understood that it helped. There was absolutely no going back from this, she knew, and it would leave her completely changed, more tightly bound to the youkai.

_Forgive me, Souta, Miroku, Gramps. Momma. I won't be going back as your little girl._ She thought of Inuyasha. His radiant eyes. His mercurial locks of hair. His strength. His ferocity. And his utter disregard for humanity. _I'm his._

It was done.

Guo Shihong was not prepared when she leapt at him, with actual claws extended. They grazed him, and he was burned with a perfect yet disturbing blend of spiritual power and youki. He screamed and clutched at his face, and felt the energies burrowing deep into his essence like the most deadly of toxins, stumbling back in horror and pain. He cried, "What have those abhorrent beasts done to you?" He straightened, extending an arm. "You poor thing..."

Kagome pulled on her connection to Inuyasha. She then felt his presence in her soul heavily. _Inuyasha._

_Kagome. Kagome. I feel your pain, little girl. _His words came to her not as brief images, impressions, sensations and sentiments like before, but as actual thoughts._ He did this to you, did he not? I will disembowel him._ She got the distinct impression of cracking knuckles and umbrage.

Kagome grimaced at the revolting image. _Lend me some strength. I can't fight him on my own. I want to fight him._

There was a brief pause, laden with the feelings of dark amusement, incredulity and the tiniest amount of pride. _You wish to fight with a god? Not without my consent. Tell me where you are. He still thought he could order her around. We will be better when we fight as one._

_I want to kill him._

_Tell me, wench. Now._

Kagome debated it for a few moments, then saw the reason in it. Shihong would most definitely kill her now if she attempted anything. Better to wait for her guardian. _I don't know where I am, Inuyasha. Follow the direction you sense where my soul is...._

She was about to tell him more when something hard and weighty pounded into her cheek, flinging her sideways. She tumbled and rolled, stopping with a thwack as her spine cracked against a withered tree's trunk. Pain surged like the swell of a tidal wave, crashing down on her, and she nearly lost herself in it. She bared her teeth, feral, and flipped onto her front in a crouch. Pain surged again, but she ignored it. Energy crackled around her splayed fingers. She needed to calm down before trying to merely stand depleted her further.

Kagome realized how quickly she was changing, becoming more youkai, yet not a youkai at all. She was no longer human, yet retained her spiritual power. She was Inuyasha's. She absently wondered if they were going to meld into one being or if the two of them would just become so similar that neither would know who the other was anymore. That thought should have terrified her, but it didn't. Having someone to spend an eternity with was surely better than dying human and alone.

_Right?_

* * *

Souta was in limbo. He felt the connection between him and his sister becoming fainter. But he would always know where she was. They were siblings, after all. He knew that she would become lost to their family for as long as they were human and she belonged to Inuyasha.

The poor boy did not know where he was. The air was disgusting, the lands ravaged. The very earth was bleeding. Souta began to cry, feeling the land's sorrow flood him. It wanted it's denizens to take it back from the yaoguai. The land reached out to Souta, touched his mind. The young adolescent nearly went insane with the knowledge of ages. He cried out, falling back, and a hulking being rose out of the earth to catch him. It had a long face, like that of a horse and bulbous blue eyes. Its skin was brown like that of tree bark and it had vines of ivy twisting around its shoulder and arms.

"Are you well, little one?" Its voice was the crumbling of rocks in the earth and the hush of wind rustling through the forest leaves.

"Yes...?" Souta shook, nodding. "Who..." his voice failed him. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Who are you?"

"I am Jinenji, the Son of Tokoyo," the giant answered simply. "I have risen because Earth-Mother was sad. I will make her happy again."

Souta's heart nearly stopped. _Tokoyo?_ He almost cried out as remembered the tales his grandfather had always told him and his big sister when they were younger....

_"It is a strange, strange land where humans die as easily as flies do here. The road you walk upon will suddenly be burning coals or a rushing river and you will be engulfed in fire or swept away by a current. The winds that blow are like blades that cut you and try to pierce your skin. There is no day – only eternal night. It is a pale moon that hangs overhead, casting a cruel light that twists and distorts images even as it reveals the truth of them...."_

"Tokoyo is _alive_?" That thought alone was enough to terrify anyone to death. Especially a child like Souta, who had heard stories from his mother of how Kagome used to get lost in the forest by their shrine, led astray often by youkai.

"Are you not alive as well?" Jinenji set Souta down and adjusted his large haori, brushing off little flowers, vines of ivy, patches of moss, and bits of dirt. The vegetation on his raiment regrew itself. He noticed Souta's trembling and bent down, peering closely at the small child. "What ails you, little human? Are you sick with something?"

"Tokoyo is _alive_?" Souta repeated. He shook his head, trying to deny what was happening, backing away. "The youkai realm can think and feel?" The giant reached out and picked him up. "What—?" He sat on one of the giant's shoulders, ivy beginning to wind around his left leg.

"Tokoyo-Earth-Mother feels emotions as much as you or I." It smiled good-naturedly. "You wanted to help your family, yet you were powerless. Tokoyo heard your anguish. I know your sister is in danger. Come with me. I will aid you."

Jinenji began to walk off in the direction of the sense of death and the smell of blood.

"I will help."

* * *

Sesshoumaru and his daiyoukai generals were still in the war council room when his attendant burst in. "M-My Lord!" It gasped.

Sesshoumaru's gaze paralyzed the little youkai with fear. "Have you no sense of propriety, Jaken? You shame the House you serve."

"B-but, Lord Sesshoumaru.... The yaoguai have begun to move! Their armies are in the thousands. Great numbers of the dead and the living...our dead!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. It came earlier than expected, but the youkai were ready. "Lord Naraku. Call the girl that was under your protection. I will bring those who went with her to the forefront of our forces." It was a dismissal. As one the daiyoukai stood. They moved out from they're positions and Sesshoumaru swept out his arm, "Call your people and gather them. Head your legions. We move out now."

Naraku murmured, a smile hovering about his mouth, "So it begins."

* * *

Inuyasha pursued the trail left behind by Kagome's essence. Suddenly, he felt Hiten at his side. Inuyasha turned his head slightly, an acknowledgment of the raijuu's presence. "Hiten?"

"Lord Inuyasha." The raijuu said, "The Commander desires that you hasten in your search and fetch the human girl at once. She is needed, for our struggle quickens now. Be prepared to take up arms. The legions move out in three passings of the soaring star." The raijuu vanished in a swirl of cloud-gust.

Inuyasha cursed atrociously increased his flight-speed. It was too soon.

* * *

Another _thwack _resounded through the surrounding area as Kagome was thrown to the ground for the seventh time. She determinedly pushed herself onto her feet. Her vision spun sickeningly. She cried out and fell to the ground, scraping her knees. She felt blood dripping warm and thick down her arms. Her back was tight, the muscles sensitive and raw. It had been ripped open. Tears rolled silently down her face. Her body was not going to be able to handle much more brutalizing, even with the youki infused within her.

"Human." Shihong was above her. She could feel him. She could hear the buzzing in his aura that signified a fallen god. "I know how you struggle and try. I, too, was once mortal. I know how insignificant your lives are, and I know how you think you're the center of the universe. Humans have no regard for others when they act. My sister was the same way. I wish for you to know these things because I see that you have a long way to go." He gripped the girl by the neck and lifted, beginning to walk her backwards. She scrambled to stay upright and not be dragged. Shihong slammed her against the tree she had first hit.

Kagome reeled and shrieked in pain: the tree bark was grating against her spine. She felt the blood flow freely now, too freely. It soaked her hitoe and hakama. A silent sob was choking her, forcing its way out of her throat. Shudders moved over her. Blood and bile coated her mouth, spilling out. "Inu...Inuyasha..."

Shihong slammed her back again. He lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "I am profoundly sorry for what I have done and am doing to you. I regret that you would be hurt." He stabbed her through with his sword. "You have to trust me. You must understand. It must appear sincere. When the time comes, I will surrender myself to your power, and you and your inugami shall eliminate me." Shihong paused and glanced away, head tilted as if listening for something, before smiling at her. "He comes for you now. I will take my leave. I wish you the best of luck, young Higurashi. You shall need it."

The immortal's hand disappeared from Kagome's bruised throat and she fell forward into the dirt, coughing and crying from the tear in her back. She felt Inuyasha at her side. The rest of the guards landed beside her, forming great craters in the rocky land.

"Kagome, Kagome..."

She was having trouble focusing on them. Their voices faded in and out.

"Inuyasha...don't...her, you'll hurt her back. Look at...size of the gash."

The thought of her wound sickened her. She wanted to sleep.

"Can...heal her? ...have...time."

"I can try." Hands laid on Kagome's shoulders and others braced each arm and her legs.

"Kagome?" It was Miroku. His eyes were full of worry and the usual merriment had vanished. "Your inugami thinks he can heal you now. However, before your...bonding, he calls it, the lady Suijin had to heal you. First it burned and then it felt good; do you remember?"

He waited until Kagome whispered, "When it was cool water?"

"Yes. Like water." Miroku inclined his head. His expression was bittersweet: he hated what they were going to do to her. "Unlike before, this will hurt a lot more, but it's a good pain. It means that your muscle is repairing itself. Now, we're going to hold you in place so your muscle knits itself the right way, okay?" He took a deep breath, looked into her now storm-grey eyes. "I'll tell you when he begins. You need to relax."

Kagome nodded weakly, "'kay." The hands on her body tightened and she felt someone crouching over her. She knew it was Inuyasha.

"You ready?" Miroku asked.

Kagome squeezed her eyes shut. "Uh-huh."

"Now."

This fire inside of her was worse. Worse than the one before. Her bones were moving back into place. He muscles were stretching and pulling and growing together. It was unimaginable. She was going insane she couldn't take it couldn't take it couldn't take it couldn't take it— "Inuyasha, focus on holding her consciousness intact! You can't let her go to that place!" and then someone was there inside of her and she screamed at the intrusion, tried to force it out, but the foreign thing pushed further into her and nearly split her in two. It held her, clamped onto her, tightly as a dog's jaws, sinking into her like teeth. She screamed again, her eyes going wide and wild, roving frenetically. Her mind was desperately struggling to get away from its captor yet, the grip was unyielding.

_Kagome. Listen._

_No. Please, no._

_Kagome._

She knew that voice. She didn't want to understand it. Didn't want to feel the mind that touched hers. Not while it hurt her.

_Kagome. Listen to me._

She began to whimper. She was being pulled from the dark recesses of her mind unwillingly.

_Kagome. Wake up. It is done. It is done. You will feel a little tender on your back but we must continue to go on our way. Kagome._

She creaked an eye open, blinking away the crust of dried tears. Her sight cleared. She saw that her cousin Miroku was pale, his face drawn. He let go of her arm and ran off. She could hear the sounds of his retching. He came back, slightly smelling of sickness. Inuyasha was standing above her, with the rest of the youkai. They all slightly shaken, even Juuroumaru and Bankotsu, their faces as grim as the reaper himself.

"Inuya..." She stopped because her throat felt as though it had been carved. Her voice came out a croak, a call similar to that of a crow.

"Refrain from moving or talking. Rest." He knelt down to her, lifting up her from under her armpits. He kept her against him, for fear that she would crumple to the ground as soon as he let go. "Hiten." The daiyoukai summoned his thundercloud down to hover beside Kagome. Inuyasha set the girl onto the cloud. "This cloud," he said to her, "shouldn't hurt you while the sensitivity in your back is fading. Just rest."

Kagome smiled slightly. "Yeah..." she laid herself back, floating on air. She shut her eyes, tired. Then, she knew nothing more of the pain, asleep.

Inuyasha gripped the hilt of his sword. He was enraged. He would find that immortal and flay him alive. "Come. Let us rejoin my brother. He is not a patient youkai."


	9. Chapter 8: The Beginning

Disclaimer- I claim no right to the holdings of _Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale._

Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long in coming. I've been having severe writers block. But here it is. Don't worry. I'll make this chapter better and re-post it soon.

* * *

"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." - Napoleon Bonaparte

* * *

**Chapter Eight**: _The Suffering_

An enormous inugami in the form of a white dog roared with fury, mouth snarling, teeth snapping. The horrid sound shook the darkening skies, rumbling and crashing like the beat of drums and cymbals. Its blood red eyes glared death at the tiny approaching attackers, the yaoguai – those which were as varied and multitudinous as the native obake and ayakashi of Tokoyo. The inugami regarded the invaders for a second, mildly dismissive, and flung the yaoguai away with a sweep of it's tail. They screamed as they burst into flames and burned out, their lives easily snuffed.

The white inugami leapt into the air and flew off. The winds swirled around it and rippled through it's gleaming hair. It howled, a mighty summons, to its compatriots: six youkai , three flanking it on each side. On the left: a human-looking man floating in a violet sphere; a woman floating on a giant white feather; a boy-child riding a flaming horse. On the right: a mossy dragon; a nine-tailed youko; an unholy phoenix-bird shooting flame through the air.

Naraku looked over at his son and Kagura. "Will you refrain from recklessness?" He had no desire to see more of his family dead after Musou had been lost to the cause. Again, Naraku was reminded of the cost of "victory" in the time and the practice of warfare.

Kagura shot him a look from the corner of her eye. "Have a little more faith in us, dear brother."

"I will." Naraku gave pause, then nodded, reluctant yet to be loosing his precious family into the harsh nightmare of Tokoyo. "Go well, then."

Kagura gave shot him a lopsided smile, wry as ever. "And you. Ware the shade of the betrayer. She walks the lands." Inwardly, she winced; she was getting to be as bad as Naraku, secretively gathering information and utilizing that knowledge by manipulating situations to work in others' benefit.

Kagura was surprising herself. Never before had she truly invested herself in her twin's affairs. Whatever her diabolical brother had planned, she was certain to have no hand in the operation nor claim no knowledge of any such thing. She thus ensured, if everything went downhill, Naraku could not drag her with him (she considered such tactics to be in very bad taste). He never pulled her to his level, though, no matter the situation. Kagura guessed, that on some level, she was repaying a debt of gratitude by giving her brother warning about the walking dead miko.

"Many thanks, sister." Naraku again nodded gravely, and flew ahead.

With a signal from the inugami commander, the youkai banked away and dispersed. The legions that followed gave out a cry that rippled through the realm.

It had begun.

* * *

Shihong stood on a cliff, overlooking the field where the final battle was to take place. His armored had been shined and and his sword newly forged. All things were in place. He shook his head, saddened slightly. This was not how it was supposed to be. He and his sister should have asked for acceptance here in Tokoyo peacefully, not forced entry through invasions and massacres. The odd thing was, he relished it. He contemplated his blood-lust for a few moments, attempting to understand it, the nature of it. It came from resent. A sense of duty to his fallen sister and his new child, Qiyue.

He sneered at the thought of the little hellion. That's all that she was good at, he had found, destroying. She had destroyed their troops in practice at camp. Finished them, nearly. She had demolished the cavalry, and nearly decimated the armed forces. Their bleeding husks were scattered across the temporary settlement like broken and unwanted toys of a child strewn about. That is all those yaoguai were to her. Toys. Shihong could see it in her eyes. It disgusted him. He resented her. He hated her. But it was all that was left of Mingya.

He turned to his young daughter, who stared at the battlefield. She then glanced at him, from the corner of her ruby-colored eye. She queried, "You would not kill me, would you, Father?"

_No. I myself will not kill you. I owe Mingya that much._ "Not I."

Qiyue smiled viciously. "Good."

_But the enemy will. This I know. They will erase us from existence._

* * *

Ryuukotsusei bellowed out a roar. He soared as a dragon through the skies, twisting and turning and looping in the stagnant air, propelling himself over the seas where the foreigners came on their small ships and boats. The opposition had a great many fleets but his legions had age and wit and strength to aid them. That aside, he had fathered numerous progeny that were all skilled warriors; his own grandson, Hiten, was more powerful than the whole of the oceanic forces combined.

Hiten was stationed beside Ryuukotsusei, riding the thunder clouds and expelling lightning from his naginata Arashi. He was to succeed Ryuukotsusei as one of the Seven Lords of Tokoyo.

The dragon daiyoukai gave a screeching command of "**_Advance!_**" to the young daiyoukai, who glanced up and answered in the same brain-bleeding tongue.

Hiten raced ahead, his long plait lashing out behind him as a snake whips it tail. The cloud behind him carried his mate, Suijin. He nodded to her, giving her leave to attack, and she smiled viciously.

She raised her Amakoi Halberd and a great wave rose up from the ocean, building until it overtook the enemy forces with a resounding crash. The few that held governance over water and had survived answered her attack with eight water spouts rushing towards her. The water spouts were so strong that they caught her cloud and dragged her into the vortex.

"Hiten!" She reached for her mate as she was pulled off of her cloud and plunged into the ocean depths. The waterspouts died after she disappeared.

Hiten heard her too late and realized that he could not help her. She was out on her own. His expression darkened. He hurled lightning and lashed out with his whip-like winds, sending the yaoguai tumbling and frying them. He looked over at where his mate fell.

A geyser sprang up from where Suijin landed and she rose out of the waters, enraged and radiating power. She howled and Hiten laughed as he threw some lightning at some arrogant yaoguai that flew in his way. The tantalizing scent of their burnt hide and charred innards permeated the winds and blew about him. He loved it when she went berserk and turned into the murderer, a mesmerizing predator that had once been a divine and benevolent beauty.

A long time ago, she had been the patron spirit of a fishing village. They had offered her the spoils of their efforts often, but eventually forgot about her. She became lonely and weak without their prayrs and worship. After the humans had neglected her good will and love, she had become bitter and angry. Alone. A vengeful water spirit that turned to the youkai of Tokoyo for justice. They had found each other and had never loved another since. Many daiyoukai in Tokoyo had experienced similar happenings.

Hiten chuckled to himself as he saw her mete out vengeance. He just hoped that she left some for him to destroy.

* * *

Kikyou moved across the opaque heavens in Tokoyo, following the wretched traces of the aura of her former lover – Naraku. She despised him and all he stood for. She never regretted betraying him for a place at Inuyasha's side, never felt remorse because she could not handle Inuyasha's power and had let him corrupt her. But she wanted them all to die for laying upon her a cursed existence of a half-life. She could not handle the power of the inugami. She had been impure. It was they who had cast her aside once she had been used and broken. She was considered unworthy by them. However, that young brat named Kagome Higurashi was not.

Kikyou stopped, for Naraku's presence was overpowering here. "Show yourself."

He appeared then, his long wavy locks bound back from his face, framing the elegant features. His armor was gnarled and grey, like the bones of an elephant mutated and gone wrong. He wore robes of black and violet and a lachrymose expression. "Kikyou," he said. His face grew ugly, grotesque with rage. "Kikyou. _You betrayed me._" His tapering fingers grew claws and he roared, slashing at the fallen miko's face. "Look at what you have caused me to become. Look at me. _Look at me._"

Kikyou leapt back and drew an arrow from her quiver, notching it. "Keep your distance from me, you monstrosity." She let it fly, hoping to end him once and for all. She had always regretted her loyalty to him – him and the other youkai from the start. Now she saw that she was right to try to get away.

The hayama pierced Naraku in the heart. He grunted and looked down at the viscous opaque blood that ooze out of his chest. His claw gripped it and wrenched it out, letting loose a great spray of the black blood. It fell on Kikyou and burned through her skin, rather like poison or acid. She nearly lost her her composure but fired off another hayama and kept them coming in quick succession.

"Think fast, Kikyou. Else, you end quickly." He advanced and his arm mutated into a long spike, swinging back and forth. The noises it made as it scraped against the dirt heightened Kikyou's anxiety. "Do you know what you left me to?"

"_Fool_." Kikyou sneered. She cared nothing for his pains. It had no significance in the greater scheme of things. He had held no significance in her heart. When she had one. She shook her head, trying to focus. She had a job to do and she was failing. "Of course I knew. I knew _everything_. And now? I am doubly glad that I escaped from you and your accursed offspring. I had no wish to be tied to an abomination's fate." This earned her a slash across the face. She fell back from the force of his blow. "You have been hiding a monster within before you became this..._thing_." Another slash. "It is...only now that you show...your true nature." The dried blood fell out of the wounds in chunks. It splattered nauseatingly onto the ground, a sound like the dropped innards of rotted fruit.

Naraku's mouth twisted into a snarl, repulsed. The miko had turned herself into a vile undead abomination, some sort of vengeful creature akin to the western vampyre or zombie. Disgusting. "Reviled woman. _You_ did this."

Kikyou backed away slowly as Naraku circled her. "Ha! Blaming me when truly the fault lies with you. You brought everything upon _yourself_."

He hissed, venom in his voice, "It would have never happened _had you not abandoned us_, _forsaken all that I had treasured!_" He kicked her in the gut. She reeled on the ground and threw up a disgusting mixture of bile and blood. "You left us in death's hands! Your betrothed. Your daughter. Your sons." He drew a long stained saber from a sheath on his back. "We were _family_. You wrested that blessing from us." He stabbed the serrated blade through her stomach and wrenched it out again.

Kikyou rolled over, groaning and coughing. "Monster...foul...creature."

Naraku shook his head, disbelieving. Even after all this, she still did not understand or see the truth. "I am not the monster I once was. No,_ I _have changed. But, _you_.... _You are the very same wretch that stole everything from the people who loved and trusted you!_" Tears were rising and spilling out of his eyes as he back-handed her. The old hurt was coming back to resurface in his soul.

"Of course I did. The villagers assured me of my safety and my escape from that hellish life if I performed my role well. It was easy enough." Kikyou spat more blood onto the earth and glared at Naraku. "They paid me in full for the services I would provide them."

Naraku felt a new pain ripping at his heart, the one he was supposed to have discarded so long ago, but never did. This was why? It was all...? For money? The shock sent him reeling, stumbling back. It was for money and irresponsibility that she committed her mutinous acts. For fear of marriage and bastard children that she had her family die. More betrayal, resentment, hatred tearing at his insides. He clutched at his chest and bent over, a tormented howl forcing its way out of him. His eyes bled bloody tears. His face twisted and its former beauty was lost to the ugliness of the vitreous emotion that a despairing heart pumped through tired veins.

"_Whore._" He screamed, "_You killed me!_" He wished her agony. He wished her true death. But even that would not be enough.

"How deluded you are. _I _killed _you?_" Kikyou laughed weakly, mirthlessly. "And if I did? What of it? _You were better off dead_."

Naraku lifted her up by her hair, making what was left of her scalp burn with pain. He raised her until her eye level was matched with his. "Do you feel the magnificent presence of the Shikon no Tama? She is our many times great-granddaughter. And do you perceive the turmoil you have created. Look at the mess you have thrust upon her."

Kikyou choked out another laugh, blood bubbling at the corners of her lips, "I never was much of a mother. Think of it as a blessing that your children should never know the pain of being _unwanted_." The ill sounds of her laughter were cut short as Naraku ripped her jaw off and tossed it to the side. Kikyou's eyes went wide.

Naraku reached down her throat and savagely ripped out her vocal cords. Blood sprayed from her throat in thick, brief, chunky spurts. He wiped off his face with the stainless white fur cloak he wore. The blood disappeared from the baboon fur. "You look so horrified. Interesting, because death could not possibly be something you fear." Kikyou struggled weakly as Naraku laughed, continuing his tirade in a frenetically maniacal tone. "Why, Dearest, you have already conquered death! Remember yourself, still animated, still devouring the lost souls of young maidens, still the thorn festering in my compatriots' sides." He smiled faintly, "Now, no one can hear you scream. Oh, my dearly beloved. I implore you; do not be frightened of me. After all, I am only giving you what you deserve." He leaned down to whisper in her rotting, deteriorating ear. "_Retribution_."

* * *

Inuyasha flew through the air with Kagome on his back, gripping his shoulders tightly, trying to locate where their positions were supposed to be on the field after everyone split off from the group. It had been quite a long time since she was attacked and kidnapped.

By now, she was completely rested and healed, and Inuyasha noted with satisfaction that none of his power had been diminished through healing her and exchanging energies. Her body and soul were ready to fight and charge into battle, yet her mind was full with doubt and anxiety and her heart quavered at the thought of killing. Inuyasha could sense that she was frightened of what was to come, felt the terror creep into his own heart. The emotion did not affect him, though, as youkai are beings unable to comprehend self-doubt and thus cannot be hindered by such weakness.

Youkai knew themselves and the extent of their abilities from the start. They had rules and the laws were made known to them from the first moment they came into existence. Unlike humans, youkai grew only in power and acquired new knowledge and skills with age. Yet, everything was not unpredictable, for their nature dictated how they would become as individuals. Inuyasha was coming to understand more and more of the inner workings of humans that longer he spent time being joined to Kagome.

Indeed, Kagome seemed to be the only one in Tokoyo to have fears. The others – she saw as she looked around – were relishing the blood-spill and the carnage. Even Miroku, trained as a Buddhist monk, gentle and compassionate in nature, was overcome by the atmosphere of the blood-soaked land.

Kagome shook her head, saddened. _Has Miroku lost his humanity, too? Will he turn into a youkai like Sango?_

Inuyasha said silently to Kagome, his tone chastising, _Do not, Kagome, concern yourself with such things. The battle-fury is not a permanent sentiment in humans. Only in the blood of youkai will it constantly rise and stir._

Kagome smiled, reassured a little, and looked around further. Her breath caught as she spotted a familiar form. "Inuyasha, look down there!" She pointed to a speck on the ground. The speck was Bankotsu, who was battling with eight yaoguai at once. He wore a viciously delighted look on his handsome face, unruffled and completely at ease with himself. Kagome was reminded of that one guy at clubs who always instigates a brawl over nothing. That would be Bankotsu. Someone who loves a good fight. Or murder.

Inuyasha nodded. He swung her off of his back and she landed on a rocky hill, crouching on all fours. He alighted beside her, taking off to join Bankotsu. He grinned as he pulled out his fang-saber, Tessaiga. It pulsed red then hardened into a diamond-like substance. "Are you prepared?" he called over his shoulder to Kagome.

She nodded, nocking an arrow to her longbow, drawing it back, and releasing it. A satisfied grin crept onto her face as she watched three yaoguai succumb to obliteration simultaneously. "Yeah. I'm ready." She felt comfortable with the blood soaking the ground and the smell of it, though it was hurting her to breathe it in.

"Then, fight." Inuyasha grinned, feral. He returned his attention to his opponents, striking them down with ease.

Kagome took a moment to watch the fluidity in his movements, graceful yet discordant, repulsive and alluring, grotesque and beautiful. He was so many contradictions at once, and his prowess on the field demonstrated that well. She felt a faint admiration, a slight fondness, but disregarded it as the awe of witnessing someone close become truly amazing. She resolved to try to become just as great. She took a deep breath and called upon the divine spirits, releasing her energy in a large radius so that all who were not allied to her fell prey to the painfully slow burn of purification.

Kagome drew an arrow from her quiver, notched it and pull, waiting for that moment to release. She watched a yaoguai advance towards Inuyasha and let the arrow fly. The yaoguai screamed, burning in holy fire. Kagome notched four more and let them loose. Seven more yaoguai vanquished. She smirked, feeling triumphant. She felt invincible. _Is this how it feels to be youkai? Completely aware of who you are and what you can be all the time? This is amazing._

Her victory was short-lived. Brawny, misshapen arms came around her, squeezing her tightly. She screamed as her ribs groaned and bones creaked under the pressure. It was a tall rat-shaped yaoguai with the head of a horse and the legs of a lizard. It spat acidic juices at her, screeching in a high-pitched tone. Kagome was paralyzed. _Is it going to eat me? Inuyasha!_ Then, unexpectedly, it shrieked and fell into two pieces.

Inuyasha stood behind Kagome, a fearsome scowl marring his captivating features. His eyes seemed hollow, reflective. They flickered phosphorous, a sign that he was aggravated with her. She wondered at the fact that she had come to know him so well. She could not understand how that came about. "You would let yourself die so easily? You have other powers, Kagome. Make use of them." He flicked blood off of his Tessaiga.

Kagome smiled timidly. She felt a slight tingle at the back of her mind, the feel of a strange notion forming: _He really cares about me? _"Thanks for saving me. And, I promise I'll remember next time."

"Good," Inuyasha nodded his approval, then leapt off to fend against another opponent's attack.

"It's okay." As she tried to convince herself of this, Kagome rolled her shoulders. "I got this." She shot off another arrow and smiled. "I got this."

Juuroumaru spun by him in a whirl of fists and claws flitting in and out of focus more quickly than the eye could perceive. He felt the flesh upon his and savored the feeling of pulling a creature away from life. He had undone his muzzle and his razor-blade teeth tore through armor and bone, breaking the opposition psychologically and physically.

Inuyasha smirked in appreciation as joining them. "You began without me."

Bankotsu laughed riotously, enjoying the give in flesh and the rush of the kill. "Don't worry. I can have fun when you're not around." He could feel the energy of his realm pumping strength through him, even as it weakened the foreigners.

Sango landed down with Miroku, shifting back into her human form. Miroku muttered a quick prayer for guidance. The yaoguai swarmed.

He used his shakujou to form a barrier around those he was facing, rendering them unable to escape. He muttered a sutra, absolving the wicked ones of their sins and causing the yaoguai within the barrier to burst into an inferno, purified by the Absolution of Divinity. A yowl to the left signalled an attack. He parried the oncoming blow to his head with his shakujou. The rings rang out a holy sound as they moved. The yaoguai's eyes bled and they yowled with pain. The weapon was vanquishing them with the memory of the melody from the vast amount of occasions when the sacred scripts were chanted during meditation and reflection in its presence.

Miroku set the stave into the ground and muttered a prayer begging forgiveness for the wrongful taking of lives, no matter how just the cause. He glanced up, surveying the battlefield, narrowly avoiding acidic sprays of blood. The screams were almost too much to bear. He knelt down on the ground, breathing hard. The pain shuddered through his in strong currents.

"Lord Monk!"

Miroku was surprised by a shower of blood over his. He looked up to see the back of a woman. She retracted her claws and held her hand out to him. He took it, his eyes questioning. "My Dear Lady. Did you save my life?"

"Stay on your guard. Do not lose focus. It will hinder us greatly if you were to die." Sango blushed, remembering the old days, back when she had been in court and the young warriors had addressed her in the same way. She had been supposed to marry one of them eventually. But then, the youkai had warred amongst themselves and dragged poor humans into it. It was thanks to her Lord Sesshoumaru and Master Inuyasha that she lived.

Miroku's expression brightened, a rare sight amidst the blood and death. "My thanks."

Bankotsu ran past them, shouting raucously, "Pay attention to the battle and stop ogling each other. Hakudoushi's charging ahead with Entei. He wants us to guard him. Let's roll."

Juuroumaru joined his companion. Inuyasha sniffed the air. "I will return momentarily." There was something he had to take care of.

Kagome shivered, putting up a spiritual barrier as a slew of arrows made from unholy fire attempted to penetrate and weaken her defenses. She fed her will into the barrier, fortifying it with her strength of mind.

The cluster of yaoguai shrieked, "You shall be overcome! Die, mortal girl." They came at her, piling onto her barrier. The force and weight of malice was almost too much for her. _Help!_

Inuyasha came up behind Kagome, sliding an arm around her waist. He grinned, "Mortal no more." He swung his great fang-saber, crying, "Rend them apart, Tessaiga." His blade glowed red, pulsed once, then let loose a torrent of wind with each swing. A hundred yaoguai perished as Inuyasha felled them in one swoop. The inugami howled his victory to the masses of obake. They roared and the morale of the legion picked up, driving the youkai to be more bloodthirsty and cunning than ever. He had driven them into a frenzy.

* * *

A high-pitched scratchy voice was casting a summoning spell, similar to the western art of necromancy. "_Oh spirits, whose pain is unimaginable and great, I ask that you give me aid in these trying times. Show me that your death was not in vain. Rise again and prove to the great immortals that your devotion exceeds death. Rise again. Rise again..._"

The voice belonged to a disturbingly grotesque old female oni with bulbous eyes and gnarled hide that leaped spryly from side to side in a frantic dance. Her bone-necklace rattled and her long donkey-skin loincloth flapped as she ambled about in front of her fire. She was called Urasue, the witch. She could do many things: cast curses, call upon spirits, send out spells, and glean the secrets of the gods from the ayakashi of old. Her realm of origin had been tokoyo but after years of honing and perfecting her practice there, she found that it bored her. She grew to despise Tokoyo and the courts. She hated the festivities and the petty mischief that the youkai lived for. She wanted greater things.

When Guo Shihong and his sister came to the continent, she knew that it was what she had been waiting for. She met with them, convinced them that she would not betray them, that she would aid them in their conquest. They would reward her, she knew, if her task had been done well. She had been offered eternal life and youth if she helped the yaoguai.

A greedy old thing, she betrayed the youkai from the beginning and left Tokoyo for the mainland's spirit-realm.

Urasue raised her arms and sang, beat her drums in an ancient rhythm that called upon the spirits of the fallen and vengeful to become enslaved in return for vengeance. She chanted the old, old verse, recited the many names of the ones who died in violence and hatred, binding them to her power until she came to an end. Such a task, a summoning, required much concentration. However, concentration is not what Urasue was able to have.

Out of the sky hurtled a blue star, shining with an incomprehensible radiance. The area around it was aflame – the star plummeting at such a speed that the air itself burned. It landed on the ground before the cowering female and assumed the form of an adorable young child, red of hair and powerful in demeanor. It held in its hands a burning blue light and wore golden fur about its small shoulders.

"Urasue..." the little youko sang softly, its protruding fangs razor-edged and its smile boding ill. "You are _quite _the ambitious traitor. Working your way up the enemy's forces in value and capability. However, you are in the land of Tokoyo again. The beings here do not take kindly to treachery."

Urasue shrieked a command, bulbous eyes crazed and panicked. She pointed, uttered kotomuke in a guttural language, and walking dead attacked the youko.

The little youkai engulfed them with his purifying kitsune-bi. The trapped souls in those corpses were released and the youko turned to see Urasue beginning another spell.

Shippou laughed, mildly amused. "All in vain, Urasue." He raised his light toward the heavens and told the old hag, "I am the Law, the Order, the Judgment in Tokoyo. Whatever I proclaim to be is reality." The light shone brightly in his hands, overpowering in its intensity. "I say this now: I declare that you, Urasue, be without strength, without power, without the aid of another being, creature, entity or animal. You shall be nothing when in the realm of Tokoyo."

The crone groaned as her strength was sapped from her. She noted with a sinking heart that her various dead soldiers had dropped and ceased to function. Her spells had been nullified. She screamed her despair, clawed at her scalp. All of her craft, undone, worthless. What good was the knowledge if she had naught of the power to make use of it?

Shippou smiled, perceiving her the direction her thoughts had taken, saying, "Weak," and he flung a long stretch of flame upon her.

She smoldered, her body breaking down and her dead soldiers released from their eternal bonds. Her skin, old and decaying, popped and curled like burning paper, charring already tanned hide. A thick aroma rose in the air. "You cannot kill me!" She shrieked, denying the reality of her death, "I am undying! Immortal! You are naught but a lowly...fox...." her ashes fell along the winds, carried away and separated so that she might never be resurrected to do the youkai harm again.

Shippou sighed ruefully. "I told you: whatever I say will be, is. I am the Judgment. Nothing escapes my ruling."

"Nothing?" A girl's voice said, amused. Shippou turned to address the person when he sensed a weapon about to cut him in two. He side-stepped and raised his light, forming it into a chain-sickle. He swung the weight on the end of the long thin chain above his head, keeping the sickle close at hand.

The attacker was a cute little girl in the white and gold raiment of a Chinese general. She smiled adorably and raised her sword, bringing it down upon him with unexpected force.

He grunted as he took the force, she above him, he using the handle on the sickle to block. He swung the weight at her head and she jumped back to avoid the attack. "Qiyue. Spawn of Shihong and Mingya."

"That is correct. And you are Shippou, Judgment of Tokoyo." The girl smirked and spun her weapon. She jabbed and Shippou knocked it aside.

"I am." He looped his chain around her sword and yanked it out of her hands. She shrieked and he sliced at her with the sickle, lunging and dodging her hits. He raked her with claws.

"You will die by my hand, Shippou!"

"You say that, but..." Shippou frowned, then leaped back, avoiding yet another hit. He calculated his options for a few moments. His connections to divinity would be useless in the situation and his youkai nature redundant: his adversary was a fallen goddess birthed in a realm saturated with youki. The battle would be determined by pure skill alone. He hoped he had enough training. But then, he reminded himself, with over a thousand years of fighting battles under his belt, he should be fine.

It was not as though he had not been prepared for this war. The youkai, all of them, were.

Qiyue thrust her broadsword forward and Shippou sidestepped while lashing out with his sickle. It sank into the little goddess' flesh and tore her open when he yanked it out. She screamed her need for vengeance.

On the battle went, the time stopping even for them as they struggled to resolve their conflict. Shippou lost no energy and ensured that every attack was worth the effort. It had come down to who would outlast the other.

* * *

Naraku snarled as he dropped the broken husk of his former lover to the ground. A shudder wracked through his bones and his eyes widened. He raised his head in alarm, a mask of stark rage painted on his features. His daughter was in danger.


	10. Chapter 9: The Reckoning

**Disclaimer**: I do not claim ownership of these characters...or the series. Except for MingYa, ShiHong and QiYue. They are mine.

* * *

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

* * *

**Chapter Nine**: _"The Reckoning"_

Long days past there was a warrior miko named Kikyou who went about the land as the mediator between youkai and humans. She kept peace for an unbelievably large amount of time, but an unforeseen string of events occurred that would change everything: she fell in love with a tyrannical human lord, fell in with a youkai, and was slain for it. However, her ways and power lived on through blood and tradition.

The Higurashi Clan was established years ago in her name, by the younger sister of the great Kikyou, Kaede, and it followed her doctrine and teachings. Kaede was something of a legend to the Higurashi, as the ancient woman had lived since feudal times. She somehow amassed enough experience and had not had to meet like this in centuries. It was disturbing when Higurashi Miroku had called them together on the grounds of the first Higurashi Shrine only to not appear. None of the Higurashi heirs had.

The Elders convened at the center of the shrine, feeling the palpable residue of youki hanging in the air. It was disturbing to say in the least, to see that their most promising pupil had disappeared from them.

Yamato, the oldest surviving member of the Higurashi clan, glanced around, his wizened face sagging into the portrait of a frown. "Akina. Where is our daughter?"

Akina knelt in front of the elder, crying silently. "I don't know, great-grandfather. I don't know." Her shoulders shook with the burden of trusting her children to do right when they ensconced themselves in dangerous situations. "She married a man named Taira Shiranosuke. Then all of my children disappeared."

"And Miroku?" Elder Yamato leaned forward. "Why did he take leave of absence from the yamabushi sect of our clan?"

"You believe I have the answers to your questions?" Akina stared incredulously, raising her head. The hall was silenced with astonishment; no one had ever addressed the clan leader in such a way.

"He is your son!" Yamato thundered forcefully. Akina flinched as his voice echoed throughout the hall. The rafters reverberated with his fury.

"I know. But I can do nothing. Kagome, too, has followed the way of Kikyou."

* * *

Yura flipped through the air, laughing cruelly as she severed the heads of her foes with ease, a twitch of her fingers and the yaoguai suffered decapitation. She was acting recklessly, she knew, but she could not help herself. Enjoyment of this nature had not come about in a long time.

Her delight was seized from her as a shriek erupted from her throat. She glanced down: a spiked appendage had thrust itself through her abdomen and bits of her innards with it. She was choking – her own blood drowning her. Her tormented gaze sharpened; she would not go out so easily. She would kill them all if she had to. The spike lifted her, she moved her fingers and the wire attached grew taut – she sliced off limbs as she twisted the wires in her hands moving them in such a way that she chopped their bodies into wet, meaty pieces. She grinned before she could lose consciousness.

* * *

The young miko glanced around for signs of her partners but found none. The death-cries of the enemies she felled echoed in her ears, ringing, proclaiming her tainted from the deeds and the acts committed in the name of youkai. She felt nervous; she had been fighting on her own for quite some time. Sprays of blood imprinted her eyes, the cracking and clicking of splintering bones reverberated through her arms, the squelching of flesh as it was being severed slurred through her chilled veins, the muted thump of a body as it hit the ground traveled up her shaking legs... Carnage. She felt full of it, swollen with it, ached from it. She knew those images...those smells...those noises would stay with her forever.

Her left knee gave out, her right thigh seizing with exhaustion. She needed support. _The group_. She glanced tiredly around again but to no avail. Kagome had been officially been separated from her shikigami in the melee. _Not good, not good_.

"Inuyasha!" she cried out for him, but no one answered. She sent out a spiritual pulse, making sure it did not purify, lest she harm her allies along with her foes, and sensed a deadly aura nearby. _It's him_.

"Greetings, once again. I merely thought to observe your progress. You appear to be handling the rapid power-growth well. You did not forget all that I told you, yes?"

Kagome knew herself to be facing Guo Shihong once more. She perspired nervously, only to have the sweat evaporate in the wake of Shihong's divine brilliance. "Go away." She steeled herself for an assault, drawing on the power of Inuyasha once more. Through their connection, she could feel him changing, shifting into something else again, as was she. She cried out and shuddered with pain as the power settled in her body. "I'm...going to kill you now," she told him with certainty, yet bewildered. Her quiver and bow were cast aside in favor of brute force. She had not ever before killed another without weapons. _How can I do this? How can I possibly...?_ She knew not how, only that she could. "Prepare to be erased from existence." Inuyasha's fangs protruded from her mouth. His cries made her lungs bleed. It hurt her terribly, but she bore it. She would not scream. She was better than that, now.

Shihong smiled indulgently. "I am." He dropped his sword and tilted his head, his thick red plait swaying in the heavy breeze. The scent of death, something Kagome had never before been able to smell, was clinging to the god. It disgusted her. "I await your vengeance."

Kagome snarled, a sound quite uncharacteristic of her. Inuyasha spoke through her then, his voice ripping apart her vocal cords. _This is not me_. "I will make you beg for death, you wretch. Submit to my will." Shock rolled through her limbs. _This is not my voice. Those were not my words. _She raked her – no – _his_ claws at the fallen god, confused when youki did not come out of them as per usual. _These aren't my hands_. Her muscles strained as Inuyasha fought through her, the human body unused to such preternatural feats of strength. _This isn't me._ Tears cascaded from the pain but she blinked them away and roared Inuyasha's fury at Shihong, landing a powerful blow on the god. He punched her in the gut and she screamed, falling back, choking up blood.

"You do not understand the power you wield." Shihong observed calmly as she leapt at him. He shook his head, dodging her again. The young Higurashi was succumbing to the influence of the youkai she had made a contract with. She would not listen to reason. "Channel it. Work with it. Do not let the beast ride you. Ride him."

"Shut _up_!" She shrieked, her head in her clenched hands. She knew somehow that he was right and hated him for it. She was letting Inuyasha take over. The lines between shikigami and master, enemy and ally, human and youkai were becoming blurred. She steadied herself mentally, surprised by another attack by Shihong, this time aimed at her heart.

"_Think_, young Higurashi. Remember. You cannot defeat me with an attack. I am a god." He stared at her prone form as she heaved. He drew his sword, the sound of metal against sheath dreadful in the young girl's ears. "This will be your end. I truly did think you could stop us. It saddens me that my assumptions turned out to be so untrue."

Kagome's eyes opened wide. She knew. Understanding unfolded itself in the girl's mind. She could not attack him because anything frontal would be redundant. This was a being of hatred and bitterness, not love and compassion. He was filled with divinity yet impure, imperfect. There's only one way to do this, then? Hope all of my miko training was worth it. Kagome steeled herself. She began to breathe deeply. Her body glowed softly.

She stood and concentrated on her lessons as Shihong's sword drove itself home into her heart. She gasped but gripped the sword tightly, slicing her fingers open in the process. Her body was healing at the youkai rate but its durability was severely lacking. So my body isn't like a youkai, but I can heal like one...wish I'd found out sooner. She began to chant. "_O, Exalted Ones, of the Earth, the Sea, the Sky, the Heavens, thou who art divine and gracious, thou who art passion and reason, thou who hast governance o'er all that is mystic and true, grant me thine wisdom..._"

Shihong narrowed his eyes. "What are you...?" He made to strike her once more. Bewilderment struck him with a staggering intensity as he was rendered powerless. His strength was being taken from him. He could not move. He could only stare into that summer-storm gaze.

Kagome coughed. Breathing was painful now. Blood was falling, soaking her hakama and hitoe. She pushed forward with her spirit, seeking his. Her essence recoiled from contact with his but she pressed forward, drawing his soul out of his body. He was resisting with everything he had. Pulling back with the strength of a god. She persisted with the stubbornness of a human. "_...I implore thee. Bless me with the strength and fortitude with which I may yet overcome my adversary_."

Kagome was paling, shimmering with energy. Her spirit was tying with his, becoming bloated with power. She expanded her power, hoping for enough energy to finish her task. She knew she was nearly done.

Shihong struggled against Kagome's spiritual hold, but her pull only strengthened.

Kagome continued with her jumon, invoking the essence of everything. She could feel the universe awaken, lean in closer in anticipation and joy. Things around her and the god were becoming vivid, more real than real. An infinite clarity presented itself to her and the god. It was horrific how she realized and understood.

A powerful shudder ran through her. She felt peace, an inner tranquility that she had never felt before. Her worries and fears slipped away. She could no longer feel the pain from the wound nor the blood that flowed freely. She no longer was aware of the chill of the metal sword that pierced her fevered skin, no longer aware of the sound of her voice, unable to perceive the ache from her other wounds agitated by her kneeling position on the ground. Those pains were menial in the face of eternity and all in existence.

She knew and understood only three things.

She was a young human and he was an old god. They were alive, in that moment, just being. Yet they only existed because the two of them only saw the situation as such.

She was fighting to save lives and herself, while he was fighting to end his and all others'.

She accepted her fate, sympathized with the youkai, finding contentment and a feeling of belonging. They gave her a purpose, a chance to be something great. He saw himself as something superior and actively fought his destiny, therefore suffering loss due to his ignorance. He felt no reason to continue his life.

The fact that life was so brief – the transience only made it more beautiful. Though it seemed trivial to fight, there, in that moment, it was the most important thing in the realm to Kagome because she had known terrible things, frightening things. She had been made witness to wondrous sights that inspired awe and reverence and still found equal standing. She had been falling, living a life with no meaning, protecting humans and living in fear. The youkai forced her to face the fear and put her in a place where she had to stand on her own and grow strong. They guided her onto a path. And she had followed it into this moment.

She took her death and his life into herself. "We must have balance."

* * *

Miroku glanced up from his skirmish with a few yaoguai, ignoring he wet sounds of their sliced bodies hitting the ground in puddles of yellow and grey fluid. His bloodied face took on the image of panic. "Oh, gods, no Kagome. Please, don't do this..." He let out a burst of spiritual energy and sent a call out to Kagome. There was no response. "Damn it..."

Sango leapt over, concern marring her pretty lethality. "Lord Monk. What troubles you?"

His eyes roved over her sharply. "We need to find Kagome. Now." He could hear it. Feel it. The winds were gathering and they whispered to his heart of unity and inner peace, which should have been impossible: the group was situated in the youkai realm a place of chaos and horrors.

Inuyasha overheard their conversation and growled low. He knew nothing of what Kagome was doing but he had felt her constant and aggravating presence becoming more faint in his mind. Kagome. Kagome. She ignored him. "What do you know about her inability to respond when she is being summoned?"

Miroku sighed deeply. "She is purifying something...but..."

"Purifying what?" Bankotsu had wandered over, his Banryuu sheathed. "And why 'but'?"

"But...it's a god." He gripped his shakujou. Fright coursed through him, nauseating and disgustingly sweet. "And she's attempting it through enlightenment. She'll kill herself if she goes any further." Humans were not made to understand nor withstand such comprehension of all things. They would usually die and be reborn as a Buddha or transform into a living saint.

* * *

Shippou felt a disturbance. Something was happening. He devoured the head of the small goddess he was holding and, imbued with her power, he transformed into his true form – a golden fox – and lifted into the air. He followed the scent of divinity and purity. He passed swiftly over expanses of land and, by chance, spotted Sesshoumaru.

"Lord Commander Sesshoumaru. Do you feel it?" he called down to his leader.

Sesshoumaru sniffed, looking up from the remains of the latest unfortunate yaoguai that had wandered into his open jaws. He had devoured more than he could count. "Judgment? Your battle was a success I presume."

Shippou descended, bowing as his feet touched the ground. "Of course. There is something amiss. Tell me you feel it too..."

Abi-hime glanced at Sesshoumaru from the side, her talons retracted into mere nails. She licked the scalding blood off of her fingers, savoring the taste. "What has happened, Great Ones?"

"Blossoms withering..." Sesshoumaru tilted his head and began the transformation from his dog form to a more convenient body. His licked his chops, inhaling the alluring aroma of death and spring and cherry blossoms floating on the wind..._That is the scent of the girl_. _Kagome_. "You are indeed correct, Shippou." His brow wrinkled with distaste. He could not let her die. If she died, his brother would face termination as well, and thus they both would endanger Sesshoumaru's designs. He roared with frustration. His accursed little brother could not even get this much right. Always leaving Sesshoumaru to pick up the pieces of the debris left by his chaos and destruction. It was a wonder that the entirety of Tokoyo had not fallen apart centuries ago. He supposed that he would go to help the girl-child and save her. _Inuyasha_. _Must I handle everything myself?_

"Come, Abi-hime, Shippou," he commanded imperiously, "it appears that the Family is in need of us."

* * *

Inuyasha arrived just in time to see his Kagome throw her head back, and a shining radiance enveloped her and the god. He saw how she knelt, hands gripping the sword in her chest, mouth open, glowing eyes wide. "...Kagome...foolish girl."

He ran towards her, straining against the shield that prevented all that was unholy and impure from disrupting the ascension. "Kagome..." He clawed at it uselessly, smelling burning flesh, realizing that it was he who was being burned. But he persevered. He was not just a youkai. He was a shikigami. Her spiritual guardian, her familiar, her partner. Their bond, holy in nature, was strengthened by the atmosphere of perfection. He pushed forward, the pain of the divinity peeling away his nature, eating at his essence.

Sango ran up behind him, tugging at his arm. "Master Inuyasha, do not. You will die." Sesshoumaru would kill her if she let that happen. And she would have to find a new master.

Kagome's skin became white light, her hair blue flames of energy, the image too wondrous and complete. Her physical body was being discarded and her clothes burned away. She began to float, and the god before her transforming into a shimmer, sliding up her arms and into her essence.

Miroku's heart wrenched. "Kagome! No!" She was beginning to take the whole of her death and the other's life and join them. He rushed at Sango, shoved her away, and pushed Inuyasha forward, shouting, "Bring her back!"

Inuyasha was a blot of silver and darkness, of red and gold heat. His essence was being threatened. "Tell me how...and I...will do it..." He struggled against it.

Miroku gritted his teeth and set up a barrier, attempting to contain the purification. "You're bonded to her. Use that. Bring her back."

He ran into it, burning all the way. Everything was stripped away from him. He pushed forward. He could sense her. She was growing distanced though, and he had to stop it. He reached out with all of his will and forced himself onto her.

_Kagome_.

Claws gripped her sides. Kagome was screaming again. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware that this had been done way too many times before.

_ Kagome. Imbecilic wench. Return to me._

That voice...it razed her senses, tore at her essence. It was unholy, tainted, blackened with darkness. She needed to expel it.

There was a supreme wrath that spiked in her consciousness. _Do not dare attempt to push me out. I am yours. Or did you forget?_ It invaded her once more. _You. Are. Mine._ He put strength and conviction into his claim, pulling on the connection.

Kagome wriggled. She was too full – too much inside of her – she was going to explode – her eyes opened and she screamed.

Inuyasha was crouching over Kagome, now encased in flesh but still glowing riotously, his hand at the small of her back and the other circling her shoulders. Her back was arching and her eyes had all but disappeared into the light. He had carried her up to a mountaintop, his comrades following, where they could be alone and not distract the forces from the yaoguai and the battle. He stared at her, at a loss. "Miroku. Come forth."

Miroku quickly analyzed the situation. He had studied such situations, in which a human took on the power of a god and died for it. There were two ways of halting the transfiguration: one, to completely merge with the power and imbue oneself in an object to create a sacred weapon or holy talisman; two, to distribute the power equally amongst many individuals. He preferred the latter. "Inuyasha...we need to take some of it."

"What do you mean?"

Miroku paused, trying to find the most efficient way to phrase and explain it. "We must take the divinity within ourselves. This will save her."

Inuyasha growled. "How will this affect me if I choose to do this?"

"I don't know." The shakujou chimed once.

Inuyasha closed his eyes once, listening to his miko's groans and feeling her agony. _How do I help her?_ He couldn't take in the divinity – he was a youkai – the two natures rejected each other with such violence that he wondered how Kagome could survive the change. He was unsure of himself – something he was unused to and something he hated. "Tell me how to do this."

Miroku knelt beside them and braced his hands on his knees. He would not feel fear. He would be resolute and stay strong for his cousin. "Feel her. Feel who she is. Know what she isn't and take that foreign energy into yourself..." His voice faded out of Inuyasha's awareness.

Inuyasha thought back to when he and Kagome had first joined. He had bitten her at the neck, close to where the blood of the humans would flow into the heart. It was savage; this would require delicacy. One does not act with fecklessness when dealing with gods. He searched his mind for something more gentle than a bite... His mouth closed on hers and he inhaled.

Pain. Euphoria. Exhilaration.

An explosion of sensations. In that flash, that brief moment he was drenched in more power and strength than he had ever been graced with before. He could feel Kagome's relief, could sense her return to her mind with the draining of what she carried. She clutched at him and wrapped her legs around him, smiling into his kiss. Emboldened by her movement, he laid her down and positioned himself on top of her, to better devour more of the foreign essence. He was able to see her eyes again. They spoke to him.

_Thank you, thank you_, she was saying. _Thank you for helping me, thank you for coming, thank you for taking it._

And he needed no gratitude. Inuyasha reveled in the taking of power. However, it was too much for him to handle. He could not inhale all of it. It flooded him and his muscles seized, convulsed, and contracted as it searched through his body for an escape from a container that had not the capacity to hold it. His eyes bled, his face contorted, claws lengthened, bones more dense. He was more of a monster than ever. And yet the changes setting in were not enough. There was a conduit needed.

"Miroku..."

Miroku had seen what Inuyasha did to Kagome and sighed with relief. It was amazing to behold; the two were wrapped around the other, all but joined at the hips, the chest, the mouth, the hands. All seemed hopeful. _Time to lend a hand._ He breathed deeply once to center himself. _Here we go. _Miroku's eyes rolled back as he grasped his cousin's shoulder. It was scalding him, working its way up his arm. His heart groaned and screamed as it throbbed and pulsed with heated power. His mortality was burning away.


End file.
